Transformers Prime: Enemy of my Enemy
by Fatal Intestinal Maelstrom
Summary: Arcee is severely damaged and has only a few days left. To save her life, Jack and the team must work with a captured Starscream to find the Nemesis, board it, and manufacture the parts she needs. Picks up where "Rematch" ended.
1. Chapter 1

"I really wish you'd reconsider, Jack." Arcee kept her voice barely above a whisper even though Jack was the only other person in the repair bay. She sat in the same spot she'd occupied since Ratchet attempted to fix her near-fatal damage from yesterday's battle with Airachnid. Jack stood in front of her with his hands enveloped in hers, gazing up into her softly glowing optics. The Pretender body she'd begun using as a remotely-operated platform sat across the chamber, its eyes closed, waiting for her to link up to it again.

"Not happening." Jack reached up to her, and she leaned down to meet him halfway. He stroked her cheek and blinked rapidly, trying to hold back more tears. He'd done enough crying since finding out how dire her condition was.

"Jack, _please_." She brushed a lock of hair away from his face. "When we board the _Nemesis_, I won't really be there. You'd be risking your life, but-"

"I've been doing that since the day we met." Jack smiled and patted the back of her hand. "Honestly, I'll be able to handle this a lot better if I don't have to worry about you getting killed right in front of me."

She sighed. "And I have to worry about the same thing happening to you-while I'm stuck _here_."

"You're not exactly helpless." He pointed at her Pretender doppelgänger. "You'll be there, right beside me. You'll have my back, like you always do. And I've got yours." He stepped forward and embraced her. "Besides, you're not exactly safe, either. If we can't get the parts you need, you'll-" He cut himself off and held his breath for a moment. "If I stayed behind and ... things didn't work out, I couldn't live with myself."

"I know." She rubbed his back gently. "Jack ... if the operation isn't successful, as a last resort I could upload part of myself into my Mini-Me. It doesn't have enough storage capacity to hold everything, but I could pull it off if I only transfer the most important files."

He stepped back and frowned up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Software for my basic functions would fit into its memory core, and my most recent memories. I'd have to give up a lot, like most of my memories of Cybertron." She shrugged. "But given what happened to my planet, maybe forgetting it would be more of a gift than a curse. Anyway, even if the worst happens, I could survive, in a way. You'd still have me."

"Hold on." He shook his head slowly. "I'm no computer expert, and I don't know if Cybertronians are even remotely similar, but when you transfer a file, you're not actually moving it; you're making a copy and the original stays right where it was before. Is that how this would work?"

She glanced away for a split-second, enough for him to know she was full of it.

"No, it's not like that. I'd-"

"Don't lie to me, Arcee."

She winced. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to ... Okay, you're right, it'd just be a copy of me. But still-"

"_No_. If it's not _you_, I don't want it at all." He shook his head frantically. "I can't lose you. I can't _ever_ lose you. And I sure as hell wouldn't ever want to _replace_ you."

She closed her optics and hung her head. "I didn't think-I just wanted ..."

"I know, honey." He took a breath and smiled. "Come here."

The corner of her mouth quirked upward. She started to move closer, then glanced off to the side. "I hear footsteps; the rest of the team will be here any second. With Starscream."

"Let 'em get an eyeful, then; it's the least of our worries."

"True enough." She leaned over, getting close enough to kiss him. He rested both hands on her smooth metal cheeks and lost himself so completely in the moment that he didn't even hear everyone else enter the room.

"What?" Starscream blurted. "Are my optics malfunctioning? What is she _doing_ with that ... that meatbag?"

They parted and turned their heads. Starscream stared back at them with his mouth hanging open. Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee surrounded him. Raf rolled his eyes and headed for the stairs leading up to Ratchet's main console. Ashanti, Jensen, Case, Washington, Dawson, Chang, the Pretender defector named Mendoza, and her human husband Lucas Conrad stood in front of them, grinning at the scene they'd walked into. Jack's mother stood a few feet away from them, in front of her medical team, arching an eyebrow and shaking her head.

Arcee narrowed her eyes at Starscream.

Jack held up a hand as if to say, _Just a moment_. He turned back to Arcee, grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. She smirked and inched closer, and they shared another long, passionate kiss.

"Like a _boss_," Jensen said.

June snickered despite her attempt to maintain a stern expression.

"Ick," Starscream muttered.

Jack and Arcee held the kiss until his mom cleared her throat loudly.

"We're not interrupting anything, are we? I mean, if this is a bad time, we can come back later."

They finally moved apart and Jack blushed. "Uh ... _ahem_ ... sorry, Mom." He turned around and sat, leaning back against Arcee, and she let her hands rest gently on his lap.

"Sorry, June. We just had to get it out of our systems." Arcee grinned.

A very slight smile tugged at Optimus's mouth. He looked around at everyone else and waved a hand at the console behind him.

"Let us begin the briefing."

#

"This is what you'll be up against." Starscream pointed at the schematics on the main monitor. "The _Nemesis_ has dozens of turrets mounted on its hull, in addition to its main cannons." He pointed at another graphic. "The corridors and most rooms onboard are equipped with cameras and ceiling-mounted blasters. One advantage you'll have is Megatron's refusal to calibrate the internal sensors to detect organics. He never considered humans a legitimate threat."

"He will soon," Ashanti muttered.

"Where are the manufacturing facilities located?" Optimus said.

Starscream pointed at a specific area of the ship's schematic. "In the same section as Knockout's laboratory. There, you'll be able to custom-build whatever parts the _two-wheeler_ needs." He flicked a narrow-eyed glance at Arcee.

She gave him the finger before linking up to her Pretender body. She closed her optics, opened her Mini-Me's eyes, and walked it over to Jack. She put its arm around his shoulders and walked with him to join June and the team.

"Her _name_ is Arcee." Jack scowled up at Starscream.

Starscream started to scowl back, but seemed to remember his encounter with Jack's EMP rifle a few hours ago, and put on a nervous smile. "Oh, of course. My ... apologies." He tapped his fingertips together, shuffled a few feet away from Jack, and turned back to the screen.

June stared at him for a moment, turned and gaped at Jack. "What did you _do_ to him?"

Arcee leaned over and whispered, "It was _glorious_. He nearly made Starscream oil himself. I'll tell you all about it later." She grinned at Jack and stroked his cheek.

Jack blushed, but smiled.

Starscream aimed an unsettled look at them, shuddered, and locked his attention on the monitor.

"What sort of opposition will we be facing once we board the _Nemesis_?" Ashanti said.

"The full complement of the ship's Vehicon crew. Which, by now, will likely be comprised mainly of those with jet alternate modes, with only a few of the car-mode ones remaining."

Jack smirked up at him. "That's because Arcee killed most of them." The subtext was clear in his eyes: _So show her a little respect._

"Er, yes, of course." He gave Jack another nervous look and smiled shakily. "I must admit to being rather impressed by her performance as of late. I do wonder, however, what you humans can do against an entire ship filled with enemy Cybertronians?"

"To save Arcee's life, there's nothing I _won't_ do."

"Yes, I can see that. Well, I'm certain your..._dedication_ will go a long way toward achieving your goal."

Arcee had to fight the urge to shake her head. "Still, we'll be facing far more 'Cons on that ship than we did in the underground base we glassed a few months ago. Might be a good idea to see if the Vehicons who surrendered are willing to help."

Bulkhead laughed. "Since they still want to kill Starscream's ass, I vote yes."

"Easy, Bulkhead." Optimus rested a hand on Bulk's shoulder. "He seems sincere in his wish to help us defeat the Decepticons, so we should extend at least basic courtesies." He gave Bulkhead a look that clearly said, _"For the moment."_

Starscream let out another nervous chuckle. "While we were enemies in the past, I am no longer affiliated with that faction, and our goals are now the same. When I said I was willing to do whatever it takes to bring Megatron down, I meant every word." He turned back to the monitor. "Getting back on topic, there are also the higher-ranking Decepticons who will no doubt impede your progress-Knockout and Breakdown, if Megatron decided not to terminate them for playing a role in my attempt to overthrow him. Also, Soundwave and, of course, Megatron himself."

"From what you've told us about Soundwave," Ashanti said, "he'll be hard enough to deal with, but your intel on Megs ..."

"What intel?" June looked around at the 'Bots and Ashanti's team.

Starscream's optics flicked around, another one of his nervous tics that had grown more pronounced since the last time Arcee had seen him. He looked down at June and said, "Before you or your offspring met any of us, Megatron had disappeared into deep space, searching for resources and more troops to build up our army. I was in charge of the Decepticons for three years. Then, one day, Megatron returned." His voice took on a quieter tone. "But he came back ... _changed_. It was subtle at first, and I thought it merely the effect of traveling alone for so long in the darkness between the stars."

"But it was more than that," Optimus intoned. "Somewhere out there, he discovered a large deposit of dark energon."

"_Dark_ energon?" June arched an eyebrow.

"The Blood of Unicron."

"Wait a minute," Miko's voice came out of nowhere, and everyone looked around. She disengaged her armor's stealth system and appeared between Bulkhead's feet. "Megatron's into some sort of occult shit? He's using the blood of a unicorn?"

Everyone stared at her. After several seconds passed, Ratchet rolled his eyes.

"Uni_cron_. The Chaos Bringer."

Miko took her helmet off and arched an eyebrow. "Oh, that clears it right up."

"According to legend," Arcee said, "Unicron is the brother and eternal enemy of Primus, our creator." She shrugged. "If any of the stories are true, it all happened a _very_ long time ago. Who knows how much information has been lost or distorted over tens of thousands of years of war between us and the Decepticons. It may not be true at all, just scraps of data distorted into myth as some of us tried to fill in the blanks over the millennia."

"Whether the legends are entirely true or not," Starscream said, "dark energon is real enough, as you've seen for yourselves. Being in its proximity had already ... altered Megatron. When he returned, he was ... not quite himself. Then, soon after his return, he rammed a shard of dark energon into his own spark; now that it flows through him, who knows what he is capable of."

Arcee looked at June and said, "He also used dark energon to revive a mass grave filled with Cybertronian corpses that he found here on Earth, left over from a battle thousands of years ago. It allowed him to control the reanimated bodies; he planned to turn all the dead on Cybertron into a zombie army and bring them through the space bridge the 'Cons had placed in orbit over Earth."

"That's why you had to blow it up?" June shivered.

"Yeah. It was our only way back home; we hoped we could someday find a way to revive Cybertron. But destroying the bridge was the only way to prevent millions of Cybertronian zombies from turning Earth into a smoldering ruin."

Jack slipped his hand into hers and she managed to smile shakily back at him. She'd told him long ago about her horrific discovery of Cliffjumper's remains, reanimated by dark energon and turned into a mindless, uncontrollable ... _beast_. He knew what sorts of memories this conversation had brought back to the surface.

"According to the legends," Starscream continued in that same quiet voice, "Unicron occasionally takes control of lesser beings and uses them as his heralds. I believe that is what happened to Megatron. He intends to bring about Unicron's return."

"So you believe Unicron is real?" Ashanti said.

"Given the things he is said to have done, it would be foolish to rule it out. He has added components to himself for thousands upon thousands of years; the records I've seen in archives depict him as the size of a planet, and as millennia have passed since then, he could be even more massive now." Starscream fidgeted again. "It is said that he _devours_ planets."

"Huh. I figured a guy like him would be right up your alley."

"Make no mistake, Unicron is a threat to _everyone_. If Megatron has encountered him, or at the very least, attracted his attention, your world is in even greater danger than it would be from any Decepticon. The Megatron I once knew simply wanted to conquer your world. Unicron would _obliterate_ it."

Everyone took a moment to let this sink in. Optimus turned back to the schematics.

"If that is Megatron's plan, this may be our best chance to stop him."

"And how will you do that? It'll be difficult enough for you to board the _Nemesis_, manufacture the parts you need, and escape."

"We blow up the ship," Ashanti said, and everyone turned to stare at her. "Take what you need, then attach a few charges to one of their energon stockpiles and detonate them after we're off the ship. At the very least, we could cripple the _Nemesis_, if not blow it out of the sky."

"I cannot condone such extreme measures, Colonel. The Vehicons and Pretenders who surrendered are proof that we do not have to remain enemies forever. We must not lose hope that some of the Decepticons, if not all, can change their ways."

"With respect, sir, your civil war has raged for _how_ long, exactly? Arcee said tens of thousands of years; have you lost count of how many? A hundred thousand years? A quarter-million? Even longer?" Ashanti placed her hands on her hips. "This is an opportunity to finally end it, or at least deal the enemy a crippling blow, before more innocent bystanders are killed."

Optimus winced and looked away.

Starscream looked for a moment as if he were trying to suppress a smirk. "The human has a point."

Optimus speared him with a stare. "We will not sink to _your_ level. We would be no better than Megatron himself."

"I understand your reluctance, sir," Ashanti said. "If the _Nemesis_ is above a highly populated area when we board, then obviously we can't risk it. But if it's over open water or a large enough piece of unpopulated land, I'd strongly recommend taking our shot."

He turned to stare at the monitor. After he let a moment pass in silence, Arcee decided to change the subject.

"The point will be moot if we can't find the _Nemesis_ in the first place." She arched a brow plate at Starscream. "You said you have a way to track it?"

"If Soundwave hasn't found the backdoor I set up long ago, yes. Granted, it's Soundwave, so that is a rather big '_if'_."

"Is this backdoor just a tracking device, or does it let you do other things?"

"It's a piece of software I planted in the ship's computers in case of emergency. Its functionality is limited, but it will allow us to track the _Nemesis_ and, if we're lucky, manipulate some of the internal security systems."

Bulkhead chuckled. "I would've thought you'd set up a way to take over the whole ship."

"Oh, the thought occurred to me, but software that extensive would've been easy enough for the average Vehicon to notice. Soundwave would spot it even if he were offline." He sighed. "I had to make do with something that would let me slip in unnoticed, and hope I could take it from there."

"It'll have to be good enough," Jack muttered.

"Very well, then." Optimus nodded and looked down at Jack and Arcee. "We're ready when you are."

#

A bright light flashed for a split second as Jack transitioned from one end of the ground bridge to the other. He hurried out of the vortex to make room for the rest of the team, keeping his EMP rifle aimed straight ahead, and found the 'Bots and Starscream waiting for him.

Ashanti's team came out of the vortex behind him, followed by his mom and two medics, Harris and Alvarez. The rest of the medical team waited at the Autobot base in case of wounds severe enough to require evac. June had, of course, joined the field team to be there for her son.

Jack took a slow look around and shivered. The only other time he'd been on the _Nemesis_ was by accident, and he'd quickly lost count of the number of times he'd nearly been shot, blown up, or stepped on. And the high, dark gray walls with purple highlights, reminded him of Starscream's underground base, where he'd been tortured for information.

He pulled himself together. _Focus. For Arcee, I can get through this. Failure isn't an option, and all that shit._

Arcee's Pretender body walked over to him and gave him a reassuring smile. She shifted her rifle to her left hand and reached out to put her right hand on his.

"Gonna be okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah. And so are you." He held her hand for a second, smiled, and forced himself to turn all-business.

"It actually worked," Starscream mumbled, looking around with a mixture of surprise and apprehension. He shook it off and added, "The cameras are broadcasting a recorded loop showing an empty corridor, and our life signs are masked, but we can't expect that to last the duration of our stay."

"Move out, then," Optimus said, keeping his voice low.

Everyone headed in the direction of the ship's repair facilities near Knockout's lab.

"Good luck," Ratchet said over the comm, and the ground bridge evaporated.

Jack looked at Arcee. "How's your connection?"

"Solid. Good thing it's on a frequency the 'Cons never use. I'd hate to alert them to our presence just by being here. Or having the connection cut off by their jammers."

"Yeah, I'd feel a whole lot less confident without you here to help." He managed a sly grin. "Also, I'd be pretty upset if your new body got left behind."

"Me, too. I'm looking forward to, um, trying out its more _intimate_ features once this is over."

"Oh, me, too."

"You said you were going to wait until you're eighteen," his mom muttered, and Jack blushed.

"Well, for _that_, we are. Doesn't mean I can't watch Arcee take it for a solo flight."

"_Please_ don't put images like that in my head, for fuck's sake."

"Sorry." Jack blushed again and grinned at Arcee as they reached the door to the repair bay.

"No life signs detected," Optimus said. "No movement. The way appears to be clear." He reached out to the panel to the door's right and pushed one of the buttons. The door slid aside and he stepped through, swept his enormous rifle over the room, and moved aside to let the others enter.

Arcee stared up at the 'Bots as they stepped past her and the humans. "Wow. Still not used to seeing things from this perspective."

"The equipment you need is over there." Starscream pointed at the far corner of the room. "Since there is no one onboard who is the same size as Arcee, there are no parts that would fit her. You will need to manufacture them here."

"That's about what we figured," Arcee said.

"Yeah." Bulkhead pointed at the lozenge-shaped device in Bumblebee's left hand, the Cybertronian equivalent of a USB drive. "Good thing we brought a copy of your specs."

"Right." She headed across the room. "Let's get to it, then."

"Yeah," Jensen said, "it's only a matter of time before something goes horribly wrong."

"Stop right there," Ashanti said. "If you jinx us, I'll make you wash the gravel in my driveway. Rock by rock. With a _toothbrush_."

Jensen's eyes opened wider, but he kept his mouth shut as they caught up with the rest of the team.

Optimus and the others found the control panels they needed and began tapping buttons. Arcee stared up at the underside of the nearest console.

"I want to help, but I can't even see the controls from here."

Jack chuckled. "Welcome to my world."

She tossed him a lopsided grin, took cover beside a nearby console, and kept an eye on the door. Jack joined her and kept his EMP rifle aimed at the door. In his HUD, the blips representing the rest of the humans moved into cover beside other consoles and waited-all except one.

"Hey, Mom. Can't stay away, eh?"

"Just worried about what you two might get up to if I leave you alone." She winked at him, but couldn't quite hide her nervousness, even through the faceplate of her helmet.

Optimus turned suddenly to look over his shoulder. "I've picked up three Decepticons approaching."

Jack's pulse jumped suddenly.

"_Jensen_," Ashanti grumbled.

"What? How the hell is that _my_ fault?" Jensen crouched and took aim.

Starscream chuckled nervously. "Perhaps a few of you should try to draw them away from us."

"Not a bad idea," Bulkhead said. He walked over to Starscream and clamped a hand onto his shoulder. "Let's get on it."

"What?" Starscream's optics nearly popped out of his head. "Me?"

"Your idea. It's only fair." Bulk looked around at the rest of them and his gaze settled on Optimus. "We'll buy you as much time as we can, Boss. Take care of our girl."

"I'm with them," Jensen said. "If that's okay, Colonel?"

She nodded. "Take Dawson and Case with you. We'll hold the fort until you get back."

"On it," the three of them said, and followed Bulkhead as he dragged Starscream to the door.

Arcee waited for the door to close behind them, then pointed her rifle at the door.

Jack took a moment to look her over, trying to burn the image into his memory, just in case. In addition to the rifle, she had a pair of handguns magnetically clamped to her waist, a sawed-off, lever-action shotgun on each hip, and a sniper rifle clamped to her back. All were loaded with the ammo that had proven so effective against 'Con armor recently.

_Sexy as ever._ He smiled, but couldn't hold it for more than a moment. He took a long breath, focused his attention on the door, and waited for the shit to hit the fan.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, this went to hell faster than we expected," Jensen muttered after Bulkhead followed everyone else into Knockout's lab and closed the door.

Bulkhead rammed his fist into the control panel beside the door. The destruction of the controls caused the locking mechanism to slam shut with a _boom_ that shook the floor. He smirked and backed away from the door, keeping his gun ready. He was still getting used to the scaled-up rifles, shotguns, and other weapons built in the labs of the Groom Lake base, but with Team Prime's energon reserves depleted, none of them could waste a single drop for their built-in blasters. They'd need all of what they had left just to keep their bodies functioning, unless they managed to swipe some from the _Nemesis_'s stockpiles.

Still, he kind of liked these new guns. The ones he'd chosen-a grenade launcher magnetically clamped to the metal skin on his back, an enormous pistol on his right hip, and a shotgun loaded with 200-millimeter rounds gripped in his hands-suited him perfectly. Big and loud and powerful enough to nearly cut a Vehicon in half. Just the kind of thing that would be on any Wrecker's Christmas list.

In addition to those, the team's human members had their own guns which, while quite small, were just as effective as his, plus grenades and satchel charges enhanced with Ratchet's synthetic energon. They'd be able to raise a lot of hell once the 'Cons started shooting at them.

Something tapped the other side of the wall, to the left of the door-one of the Vehicons pushing the button on the control panel. Jensen, Case, and Dawson glanced around, took cover behind the side panel of a console, and aimed their rifles at the door.

Starscream gibbered and backed away until he bumped into another console.

Bulk activated his comlink. "Hey, Optimus, made any progress yet?"

"We are ready to begin fabricating the parts Arcee needs, but when the machinery starts up, the crew manning the command deck will detect the energy spike. So far, though, no one has come near us."

"Good. We'll keep their attention on us as long as we can."

A shower of sparks pierced the door and zipped downward, leaving a thin, molten gap in the metal as it moved. Starscream shrieked and stumbled along the wall until he tripped over a cable running across the floor.

Dawson arched an eyebrow at him, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the door.

"What was that?" Optimus said. "What is your status?"

"They're cutting through," Starscream said.

"How long do you have?"

"Maybe thirty seconds." Starscream stared at the door and trembled. "This mission _sucks_."

#

June shook her head. "This guy was in charge of the Decepticons?"

"Yep." Arcee chuckled. "You can see why I'd prefer him running the show instead of Megatron."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Starscream grumbled over the comlink.

"Yeah." Arcee grinned.

"I won't stand here and be insulted when I'm helping you."

"Well, make yourself useful, then," Bulkhead said.

"Fine. I still have limited access to the ship's systems. I'll see what I can do."

"Hurry it up. They're almost through."

"So," Jensen said, "any estimate on the TTM index for today?"

June raised an eyebrow. "TTM?"

"Time-to-Miko." Jack shook his head, but couldn't help grinning as well. "It's only a matter of time before she shows up."

"She's around here, somewhere." Bulkhead sounded worried but also proud.

A sudden, massive _clang_ reverberated through the floor and walls.

"They're in," Jensen said.

"Here we go," Bulkhead muttered, and then the shooting started.

Arcee exchanged a worried glance with Jack. She looked over at Optimus and Bumblebee at the fabricator console. Bee touched one last button and the machine came to life with a deep, rumbling hum.

"Process initiated," Optimus said. "We need only hold the room for a brief time."

"How brief?" Jack said.

"If we are lucky, perhaps ninety minutes."

"Oh, is that all?" Dawson said under his breath.

"I have a _lot_ of parts that need to be replaced." Arcee turned back to the door. "I'm actually surprised his estimate wasn't longer."

"What the hell?" Starscream muttered, his voice nearly drowned out by the rattling of the humans' weapons and the booming of Bulkhead's shotgun.

"What is it?"

"I've managed to take a peek at the _Nemesis_'s navigational data. The ship has left its position and moved beyond Earth orbit."

"Oh, _shit_." Arcee aimed a horrified look at Jack. "They've taken the ship out of our ground bridge's range. We're trapped here."

#

Through his faceplate, she could see Jack's face turn pale. He shook it off and turned back to the door.

"Starscream, can you get into the nav system and change the ship's course?"

"No, I'm still locked out, but I'll make do with the few systems I do have access to. And I happen to have an idea how to screw with the enemy troops. If nothing else, it should distract them for a few seconds."

Arcee arched a brow plate. "What are you up to?"

"Find something to hang on to, everyone. Things are about to get a little..._floaty_."

"He's cutting the gravity." Arcee ran a quick check of her Pretender body's systems and found magnetic-field generators in the feet. She activated them a split-second before the artificial gravity cut out. "Been a while since I've had to fight in zero-g."

In the corner of her optic, Jack and June looked around frantically and scrabbled for a handhold. Behind her, two pairs of clanging impacts vibrated the floor as Bee and Optimus engaged their own magnetic footpads. Arcee reached out to catch Jack's hand and pull him back to the floor, and he grabbed his mom's arm to prevent her from floating away.

"Quick note to base," Ashanti grumbled as she kicked off from the floor and zipped up to the console above her head, "our next armor upgrade should include magnetic boots."

"Noted," Mendoza said over the comlink. "Just be sure you turn that ship around and get back here in one piece. I want to have a team to work on upgrades _for_."

"We'll do our best."

"Good. I've already lost too many friends in this damned-fool war. Don't let me lose the _new_ ones I've made over the last few months." Mendoza paused, as if to pull herself together before she could continue. "There's also the matter of communications lag if the _Nemesis_ doesn't park somewhere."

"Right. A few seconds at first, but it'll be minutes or even hours the farther away from Earth we get."

Jack aimed another alarmed look at Arcee. "That'll be a problem with your Mini-Me."

"Yeah. It'll be useless if I can't get a signal to and from it." And if the ship couldn't be turned back, her whole team could die out here. She kept her mouth shut; there was no point in giving him and June anything _else_ to freak out over, assuming they hadn't already thought of it. "We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen. Starscream, have you gotten into the nav system yet?"

"I'm working on it! Slipping through these firewalls is a delicate pro-_heeeyaaaarrgh!_"

Jack grimaced at the piercing shriek and stared at Arcee again. "What the hell was-"

The resounding _crash_ of a huge metal body hitting the floor reverberated through the corridors.

"-that?" Jack turned to stare at the door. "Oh, shit."

"Looks like he run into some nasty intrusion countermeasures," Bulkhead said while blasting away with his shotgun. "He's down."

Arcee's sensors picked up a squad of Vehicons approaching from the far end of the corridor. "Get ready, Jack. Company's coming."

#

"So much for drawing them away from you guys." Bulkhead dropped the last Vehicon with a shotgun blast to the head and turned to glance at the twitching, gibbering Starscream. His proximity sensors pinged and he grumbled, "Wonderful. Just picked up another squad heading in our direction."

"Oh, terrific." Jensen shook his head and pushed away from the console. He rolled slowly in the air, plucked a satchel charge from his backpack, and winged it at the console. It stuck to the panel and he took another from his pack. "Well, how about we give 'em something bigger to worry about?"

"On it." Case kicked off from the floor, caught the edge of another console, and slapped a satchel charge onto it. She flipped over, pushed away, and drifted over to the adjacent panel. She tossed a charge at it, then at the next three, sticking each one before bumping into the wall and pushing herself back.

"That's about all we have time for." Bulkhead stomped over to the door, peeked down the corridor, and fired three rounds from his shotgun. "Go on ahead. I'll cover you."

Jensen grinned and took a grenade from his belt. "See if you can keep their eyes on you. If we can slip past 'em without being spotted, I think we can really fuck their shit up."

"Go for it." Bulkhead grinned, drew his grenade launcher, and aimed it while blasting away with the shotgun in his other hand. One of his shots blew a hole through the nearest 'Con's chest and the others dived back into the open doorways they'd been using as cover. Jensen, Case, and Dawson flitted past him, used his shoulders as a pushing-off point, and drifted back toward the other half of the team. Bulk stepped into the open, using his body to shield the humans, and popped a grenade at the 'Cons.

The human-designed explosive, formidable enough on its own, ignited the synthetic energon Ratchet had added to it, and the blast filled the end of the corridor, washing over the 'Cons and tearing through the open doorways into the rooms beyond. The shockwave knocked him back several steps. He regained his balance, glanced at his launcher, and laughed.

"Whoa."

Another explosion came from behind him and he looked over his shoulder. One of the Vehicons had just had his head blown partially off. Bulk flicked his optics around and found Dawson zipping through the air toward another 'Con. The human flew past the back of his head, flung a synth-en grenade at him, and continued on by.

The grenade plinked down under the Vehicon's collar and detonated. The explosion sheared his neck in half and whipped his head forward. The red glow in his optic strip faded and the body hung in the air, drifting slowly toward the wall.

Bulkhead chuckled. "Nice!" He faced forward again and found the end of the corridor in flames. Several 'Cons were trying to pick themselves up and pull shrapnel out of their bodies. Bulkhead grinned down at the grenade launcher. _Where were you all my life?_

"Shit!" Case blurted.

Before Bulkhead could turn to see what had happened, his auditory sensors picked up the sound of a Vehicon arm cannon firing-and searing pain ripped through him from back to front. Both weapons slipped from his hands and floated away. His foot magnets failed and he found himself hanging in the air, much like the Vehicon Dawson had just killed.

"Bulkhead!" A human voice. Miko's, he realized as everything began to fade away.

"Heh. There she is," he mumbled.

"Bulk, are you okay? Are-oh, _Jesus_!"

_Okay, that can't be good._ He tried to turn his head toward her, but couldn't. _And neither can the fact that I can't move._

His head gradually tilted forward and his chest entered the edge of his field of vision. He could barely make out a gaping hole in his chest, the edges molten, droplets of liquefied metal floating away into the air.

He stared at it, utterly confused. _What? Vehicon weapons don't pack that much of a punch. Unless they've been upgraded..._

"Bulkhead!"

"M...mmmm...Mi...ko..."

He bumped into the wall and drifted slowly back.

His optics closed and everything around him went away.

#

"What the hell are _those_?"

Jack glanced at his mom and turned in the direction she was staring. His jaw dropped.

"Yeah, what the hell _are_ those?" The two new arrivals didn't look quite like Pretenders and were smaller than the average human. One was chrome and the other black, and both were slim and spiky all over. "Arcee?"

She looked at him, grasped the corner of a monitor and turned herself to face the door. "Those are a couple of Soundwave's pets. The black one's Rumble and the chrome one is Frenzy. Haven't seen them in a few centuries; didn't know they were even on this ship."

Frenzy braced his foot on the edge of the blasted-open door and launched himself into the room. His red optics locked onto Jack and he pointed his arm at the young human. A hatch on his wrist popped up and a small but razor-sharp disc shot through the air.

Jack's heart pounded and he tried to pull himself under cover and aim his EMP rifle at the same time.

Arcee whipped one of her sawed-off shotguns up and blew the disc off course. The suddenly warped blade tumbled through the air and plinked into the ceiling.

"Stay under cover, Jack. I've got this." Arcee flip-cocked the shotgun, pulled the other from her hip, and targeted both 'Cons at the same time. They managed to get off a few shots before she pulled the triggers. She lunged aside and the blades missed her by a fraction of an inch. Rumble and Frenzy twisted and rolled in midair and her own shots barely grazed them.

They pointed their other arms at her and deployed their built-in blasters. She ran across the floor, kicked away, flipped upside-down while cocking her guns, and magnetized her feet to the underside of a nearby console. She kept moving as she fired, and the two 'Cons did the same, zipping through the air, bouncing off a surface, trying to maintain target-lock while firing away.

In the corridor, Jensen chucked a grenade at one of the Vehicons as he drifted through the doorway. Arcee and the two pint-size 'Cons caught his attention as he floated toward Jack.

His grenade blew and the Vehicon's body separated from his head.

Jensen grabbed the edge of the console Jack and his mom had landed on, pulled himself toward them, and whistled softly as Arcee flip-cocked her guns and continued firing.

Rumble hit the ceiling, braced his feet against it, and propelled himself straight at her. She turned her shotguns toward him-and they merely clicked. She clamped them to her hips and grabbed her pistol.

He plowed into her and the gun flew from her hand. She started to tumble, but grasped his shoulders and turned herself around until her feet touched the wall and clamped down.

Rumble extended his arm blades and jabbed one of them at her. She deflected the blow and landed a chop to his neck. The impact knocked him off balance, but his feet remained magnetized to the wall.

Frenzy landed behind her and swiped his own blades at her. She turned and blocked his blows with her left arm while deflecting more of Rumble's attacks with her right.

Jack's heart pounded hard enough to shake his whole body. "Oh, no..."

They traded blows for several more seconds. Finally, Rumble slipped behind Arcee and shoved his blade straight at the back of her head.

The breath caught in Jack's throat. There was no way she could've seen it coming.

She ducked at the last instant and the blade plunged into Frenzy's face. Sparks erupted from the wound, he released a distorted electronic howl, and his body appeared to go limp. His feet remained clamped to the wall.

"Aw, fuck," Rumble growled. He pulled his blade out and the motion jerked Frenzy forward. He continued screaming and twitching, and Jack shuddered.

"Christ, he's still alive."

Rumble swung his blade at Arcee again. She dodged it, wrapped her fingers around his wrist, and yanked him toward her. She released the magnetic clamp on her right foot, braced it against his head, and re-engaged the magnet. Then she pushed while continuing to pull on his arm.

He screamed and tried to dislodge her foot.

Something in his shoulder snapped and he let out a higher-pitched scream. She kept the pressure up.

The shriek of metal tearing somewhere in his neck echoed through the room and he fell silent. His feet parted from the wall and Arcee gave him a casual shove that sent him tumbling slowly through the air. She sneered at Frenzy and hurricane-kicked him across the room.

Jensen grinned at Jack. "Wow. I can see why you wanna fuck her."

"Hey, hey, hey, _hey_." Jack waggled his finger at him. "Keep your hands off my woman."

Jensen laughed and held his hands up. "Relax, I'm just sayin'."

Jack grinned at Arcee and gave her a thumbs-up as she launched back to him. She floated into his arms and gave him a quick hug before stepping back and reloading her shotguns.

Jack looked around to see how the rest of the battle was going. Ashanti's team continued flitting around while Optimus kept their attention squarely on him. He'd planted himself beside Bumblebee, using his own body as a shield while Bee operated the fabricator, picking off the 'Cons with his enormous rifle whenever he could get a clear shot.

Out in the corridor, more 'Cons blazed away, shooting toward the far end.

Then came a sound that kind of jumped out at Jack. Similar to the typical Vehicon blaster, but...louder, deeper, with more bass. A sound that rattled the walls and floor.

An intense, solid beam lanced past the doorway.

"Bulkhead!" Miko's voice, shrill, panicking. "Bulk, are you okay? Are-oh, _Jesus_!"

"No," Arcee mumbled. She and Jack traded a horrified glance.

"Bulkhead!" Miko started to cry.

"Bulkhead," Optimus intoned. "What is your status?"

"He's...not moving," Miko sobbed. "He's hurt bad. Unconscious or...or..."

Optimus's eyes widened and his brows shot upward.

"He's still online," Ratchet said. "But you need to hurry."

"We'll clear the road, sir," Ashanti said. "Keep protecting Bee." She pushed away from the ceiling, headed for the two remaining Vehicons, and aimed her anti-tank rifle at the one in front.

"I've got the one in the rear," Case said. She reached the side of a console near the 'Cons, kicked off and shot toward the one she'd claimed. She clutched a grenade in her right hand and waited until she'd come close enough.

The other Vehicon glanced to the right and spotted her. Startled, he twitched backward just as Ashanti pulled the trigger. Her bullet punched through the floor and left the edges of the hole molten and dripping.

The 'Con cocked his hand back and swatted Case out of the air like a fly. The edge of his hand caught the side of her helmet and a sickening _crack_ burst over the comlinks. Her body turned ragdoll and tumbled toward the back of the room.

"Shit!" Lucas Conrad's voice, coming over the comlink from Earth. "Case's bio-readouts just flatlined. I...Christ, she's dead!"

"Are you sure?" Jack glanced at his mom. "Maybe the impact damaged her armor's connection with the base."

She shook her head. Her face had turned almost completely white. "My armor's linked with her diagnostic system. Her heart stopped and she's not breathing, and...fucking hell...her skull was crushed and her brain was severed from her spinal cord. She's gone."

"Motherfucker," Ashanti snarled.

The Vehicon turned toward her and raised his arm cannon.

She whipped her rifle around and fired without taking the time to line up a shot. Her bullet drilled into his forehead and he clamped his hand over the damaged area. He kept trying to aim at Ashanti, but his arm twitched and shook.

She no-scoped him again, and this time the round punched through his optics and exploded deep inside his head. The glow faded from his optics and he floated limp in the air.

Ashanti flipped, braced her feet against the 'Con's shoulder, and pushed off toward the second one. He swung both blasters toward her.

The rest of her team targeted him, as did Optimus and Bee. Arcee pulled the sniper rifle from her back and locked onto the 'Con's head.

All of them opened fire at the same time, blasting chunks off the 'Con's armor, punching through and shredding vital components, and tearing his head apart.

Ashanti bounced off what was left of him, pushed away, and angled herself toward Case's body. She put her arms around it and looked at Optimus. "I don't know if you can do this without shifting into vehicle mode, but-"

"Of course, Colonel." He gently accepted the body from her, opened a compartment in his chest, and eased Case into it. "I will make sure she returns home."

"Thank you, sir." She looked at the doorway. "Please watch Bee's back while he finishes up. The rest of us will check on Bulkhead."

"I..." Miko's voice again. "I see the 'Con who shot him. I've never seen anything like it before. What the fuck _is_ that thing?"

"I'll take a look," Arcee whispered. She sprang across the room and caught the edge of the door. She peeked around-then ducked back with a horrified look on her face. "It's an Insecticon."

"A _what_?" Jack muttered.

"They're vermin, but they're about a hundred times tougher than any Vehicon." She shook her head. "I thought the few that are left were still on Cybertron, like discarded weapons of mass destruction."

Motion in the corridor caught Jack's attention. A huge, dark shape passed by the opening, easily twice the mass of a Vehicon.

_Yeah, it looks like a big bug, alright._ He shuddered. Merely seeing it would probably give him nightmares for years to come.

It stopped in the doorway, turned, and stared straight at him. His heart skipped a beat, his lungs seized up, and he almost lost control of his bladder.

"Son of a bitch," Jensen said under his breath. "Can this turn into any _more_ of a pooch-screw?"

Jack glanced at him, but another movement made him look back to the door.

Another massive, metal bug appeared behind the first. And a shadow flitted on the wall behind it.

Moving slowly, Arcee peeked into the corridor, turned and looked to the Insecticons' left, and ducked back into the room.

"Fuck me. There's more of 'em. A _lot_ more."

Jensen sighed. "If they're really as tough as you say, we're all dead."

"Then we go down swinging," Ashanti growled.

"No," Optimus rumbled. "We have a mission to complete, and more importantly, a friend to save, and we will see it through." He checked the ammo in his gun and strode to the center of the room, placing himself in the Insecticons' sights.

"Goddamn right." Jack launched toward Arcee and she grasped his hand to keep him from bouncing off the wall and floating back. He smiled and caressed her cheek. "Like I told Starscream, to save your life, there's nothing I won't do." He aimed his EMP rifle at the nearest Insecticon. "Let's do this."


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, buddy, hang in there." Miko sobbed and struggled to see through the tears obscuring her vision. She scrabbled for a handhold on Bulkhead's enormous body, found one, and grasped the edge of the doorway to Knockout's lab. She pulled, the lack of gravity and the servos in her armor enabling her to tug her partner through the air. He inched forward and his left shoulder caught on the doorway. She kicked off from the doorway, floated across his chest, and thumped into the far edge of the frame. She put her back to it, braced her boots on his shoulder, and pushed, nudging him ever so slightly away.

Just enough to clear the door frame.

She fumbled for another handhold, couldn't find one, and tried to hold back more tears of frustration. She looked around the lab and found Starscream floating in the air, still out cold. She kicked off from the wall, zipped over to him, and grabbed onto his outstretched hand. She pulled herself along his arm until she reached his shoulder, then she found something to hold on to, cocked her right leg back, and drove it into the side of his head.

"Wake up!" She kicked him again. "Wake _up_, goddamn it!"

After five more kicks, his optics finally opened and his mouth contorted as it tried to form a word.

"Hhhhhhhh..."

"_So_ glad you could rejoin us!"

"Huh?" He blinked, shook his head, and glanced around. "Well, I'm _so_ sorry I nearly got my brain fried while-"

He saw Bulkhead floating in the doorway and stared for several seconds.

"Oh. What the hell happened to him?"

"He got shot in the back." Miko sniffed and turned away so he wouldn't see her weeping. "Pull him in here so he won't take any more hits."

Starscream arched a brow plate at her, shrugged, and dragged Bulkhead into the lab. Then he took note of the exit wound in Bulk's chest. "That wasn't done by the typical Vehicon blaster."

"It was a new 'Con we'd never seen before. Big, bug-lookin' thing."

"What?" Starscream's optics opened wider and his mouth hung open.

"Arcee called it an Insecticon."

Starscream's expression turned to utter horror. He pulled himself over to the door and peeked into the corridor. He jerked back almost immediately and aimed a panic-stricken look at Miko.

"_Fuck_!"

"You didn't know they were here?"

"I've kind of been out of the loop for the past few months." He looked at the hole in Bulk's chest again. "Their weapons appear to have been upgraded. That looks like a single shot."

"It was. Happened right in front of me." Tears filled her eyes again.

"They couldn't do that before. It would take several hits to do this kind of damage, even for one of them." His whole body trembled. "_Shit_."

"Stop panicking." Miko shook her head. "This is your resident mad scientist's lab, right? Well, there's gotta be something in here that can help."

"Uh...er...right, of course."

"So pull yourself together and see if you can find something."

"Yes. Right. Good idea." Still shaking, he floated back to the workbenches and cabinets, and began digging through the gadgets he found there.

Miko drifted back to Bulkhead and put her hand on his forehead as the sounds of blasters and human-built weapons resumed, filling the corridors with a deafening cacophony.

"Hold on, Bulk. We'll get you out of here. Somehow."

#

"Starscream's back online," Rosalina Mendoza said, looking up from the data on her tablet.

"Oh, joy," Ratchet grumbled. He touched controls and stared at the readouts on his monitors. "I'm more concerned with diagnosing Bulkhead at the moment."

Rosalina's tablet beeped again and she accepted the incoming message. She glanced at her husband and said, "Did you get this alert?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was distracted." He picked up his tablet. "Just thinking about Case."

"I know. I liked her." She put her arm around Lucas and was relieved when he didn't flinch. Recent developments had put a strain on their marriage, but he seemed to be coming around. "At least the bastard who did it paid the price."

"That won't bring her back." He sighed and read the message. "Whoa. Hey, Ratchet, here's an interesting development. Seems the Vehicons who surrendered a few months ago know what happened to Case."

"What? How?" Ratchet leaned closer to his console. "Bumblebee, I've finished analyzing Bulkhead's wounds. I'm sending you a list of parts you'll need to manufacture before you leave. And you'll need to get him back here _soon_."

A series of honks and beeps came through the speaker. Ratchet nodded.

"Good." He turned to arch a brow plate at Lucas and Rosalina and the airmen standing nearby, keeping an eye on Rosalina. "Again, how do the Vehicon prisoners know what's happening on the _Nemesis_?"

"Looks like a few of them have been keeping in contact with a small faction of Vehicons on the ship. Friends of theirs, I suppose." Rosalina shrugged. "Turns out we may have something of a fifth column on the _Nemesis_."

"I find that difficult to believe."

"I figured as much." She shrugged again. "I didn't even know about this, but Case was among the people who had regular contact with the prisoners, and some of them grew quite fond of her. One of their counterparts on the _Nemesis_ was sending them updates on the battle, and informed them of Case's death a few minutes ago. They're volunteering to help us."

"Even if I trusted them, the _Nemesis_ is well outside our ground bridge's range."

Rosalina nodded, thought it over, and tapped a message on her tablet. "I'm asking our Vehicons to ask the fifth column for help."

"Ah-ah-ah-ah, hold on just a minute!"

"I know it's a risk, but our team is outnumbered, one's dead, and another is close to it. _And_ they're facing who knows how many Insecticons. They're in real trouble, and they need help."

"Hey," Lucas said. "I know you don't trust her, but I do."

"Oh, well, how wonderful! You trust someone who lied to you about what she was during the entire ten years of your marriage. Fortunately, I'm not that deluded."

"I _know_ what she did! I know she's a former Decepticon who passed herself off as a human. But what the hell was she supposed to do? If she'd told me the truth ten years ago, I would've thought she was an escaped mental patient."

"Lucas, it's okay. I don't blame anyone for not trusting me." She touched his shoulder.

"She's still my wife and I trust her, and I _love_ her. If you can't understand that, then I feel sorry for you." He turned away from Ratchet, put his arms around her, and just held her.

"Thanks, babe," she said softly. She held him gently, all too aware of the fragile nature of his flesh under her metal arms and hands, but delighting in it at the same time. It had been several months since the last time they had shared an embrace.

"Alright," Ratchet grumbled, "maybe you're right. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to trust this 'fifth column' of yours yet."

"In case you've never noticed, Megatron treats the Vehicons like shit. Like they're not even sentient beings. He never gave a damn how many of them died, as long as the objective was completed."

"Alright, fine, I _have_ noticed that. Many times." Muttering to himself, Ratchet turned back to his console, and Rosalina sighed.

"Well, the message has already been sent to them." He looked back at her and she held his gaze for several seconds before closing her eyes and focusing for a moment on the man in her arms. "We'll see in a few minutes if I'm right or not."

#

"_Whoa_!" Arcee flipped forward and flattened herself out, barely avoiding Optimus as he shot through the air beneath her. Once again, for a fleeting moment, she felt like an insect compared to the sizes of the other 'Bots and 'Cons around her. Especially after seeing how easily one of the Vehicons had swatted Tyra Case out of existence. Even though this body was merely an empty shell Arcee was piloting from the base back on Earth and she would survive anything that happened to it, she was all too aware that she would lose any chance of keeping Jack and his mom safe if it were destroyed.

Optimus slammed into the far wall and bounced off. He grasped the edge of a console and held himself in place long enough to get his bearings, and aimed his rifle at the Insecticon who had flung him across the room.

The 'Con snapped up his arm-mounted blaster and fired. The bolt missed him by two feet and drilled into the wall behind him, and Arcee sighed.

_They may have heavier armor, but at least we can still jam their targeting systems._

She looked around as she drifted toward the ceiling, trying to keep an eye on every part of the battle. Across the room, Bee tried to operate the controls with one hand and fire at the enemy troops with the other. Optimus blazed away at the Insecticon, his armor-piercing rounds merely scratching and chipping at the huge bug-bot's chest and head. Ashanti's team concentrated their fire on a second Insecticon in the corridor, with little effect.

She found Jack, June, and her medical team as she bumped into the ceiling. She propelled herself toward them, pulling the sniper rifle from her back and lining up a shot on the second Insecticon's optic strip.

The 'Con aimed his blaster at DeeDee. She leaped off the console and zipped through the air-and his gun tracked her across the room.

_No..._ The humans' new armor wouldn't be able to withstand even a single shot from the Insecticon's immensely powerful weapons. She tracked her own gun directly to the center of his optics and squeezed the trigger. Her bullet punched through the less resilient material covering his optic sensors and drilled into his processor, where it delivered its explosive payload. Green flames from the synthetic-energon charge belched out through the entry wound and the Insecticon twitched and thrashed around. It hadn't been enough to kill him, but it had certainly fucked him up.

Double-D gave her a nod as she floated past, and Arcee smiled and nodded back. She reached Jack and he caught her outstretched hand. She placed her feet against the wall and engaged her electromagnets to hold her there.

"Well, one down," Jack said. "Another, what, couple hundred to go?"

"I hope we're ready to pack up and leave before we have to go through all of 'em." She managed to smile at the others. "Might have some good news, though. Back at the base, Mendoza said there's a faction of Vehicons here who might try to help out."

"You trust her?" June said. "Or them?"

"I'm starting to trust Mendoza. The 'fifth column,' though, I'll believe when I see. Still, I've seen how they're treated around here, so it wouldn't surprise me if a few of 'em got sick of it." She activated her comlink. "Bee? Got an ETA on those parts?"

As he replied with a series of honks and whirrs, she turned to check on Optimus and found him pulling his blade out of the Insecticon's face.

"Huh," Jack said. "They're not so tough."

"Don't jinx us, kiddo," June said.

Arcee smirked at Bee's response. "Good. That means it's time to start working on a way out of here."

"Uh, honey," Jack said, his tone sending a cold rush through her spark. "We need to move."

She looked over her shoulder and found two more Insecticons coming through the doorway. One of them had glanced over and spotted her and the others. He cocked his head, glanced at the other Insecticon, and pointed.

"Is that Arcee?"

"Looks like her," the other one growled.

"Strange. I expected her to be taller." He raised his hand to smash them against the console.

She swung her rifle around to aim at his optics and Jack lined up a shot with his EMP rifle.

June gasped and reached out to grab him, but stopped herself so she wouldn't throw off his aim.

He pulled the trigger and the 'Con twitched, clamped his hands to the sides of his head, and grunted. But he kept moving.

"Oh, hell," Jack muttered. Some of the color drained from his face.

Arcee waited for a clear shot at the Insecticon's optics and took it. The bullet punched through and detonated. He released an electronic shriek and convulsed, but he continued functioning well enough to attempt to reacquire his aim on them.

She looked at Jack, June, and the two medics, and snapped, "Go!" She lined up another shot as they launched off to whatever cover they could find. She fired, but the 'Con's twitchy movements ruined her shot. The bullet dug into his forehead but didn't penetrate. She snarled and threw herself after the others.

"We're gonna need bigger guns."

#

Miko peeked into the corridor just as Optimus launched into view and slammed an Insecticon into the wall. Behind them, a whole swarm of the bipedal bugs raced along the floor, ceiling, and walls.

"Better hurry," she snapped. "Haven't you found anything yet?"

"I'm working on it!" Starscream grumbled and continued searching through the gadgets in the lab's storage compartments. "What about _you_? I've heard you've been a major asset in recent battles, but you were nowhere near us when your friend was being shot in the back."

She whirled on him, but suddenly the fight drained out of her. _He's right. Sonofabitch. I'm so sorry, Bulkhead._ She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath until she was sure she wouldn't burst into tears again.

"I was scouting ahead. All I have is a half dozen flashbangs, and those would've knocked out any Cybertronian within range. And since we have no idea whether they'd even work on the Insecticons, I'm not risking it now. I thought I'd make myself useful, and I thought everyone else could handle it."

She took another peek outside. Optimus had just finished twisting an Insecticon's head off and sent the body floating in her direction. The rest of them piled on top of him, but he went on punching, kicking, stabbing, and-whenever he could-shooting them in the face.

"And _did_ you make yourself useful? Did you find anything that would help?"

She gnashed her teeth, but forced herself to sit there and take it. "I found several energon store rooms. If we can steer the ship back within range of the ground bridge, we can empty out one or two of 'em, maybe blow another one up if we need something big to cover our escape."

An idea clicked into place and she looked around, spotted the satchel charges the team had left on the consoles. She launched herself at the nearest one, grabbed it, disarmed it, and moved on to the next.

Starscream paused to watch her. "What are you doing?"

"Making myself useful." She snatched up the rest of the charges and zipped back into the corridor, where she found Optimus still fighting off the Insecticons. The air around him was filled with 'Con corpses and body parts, but so many new arrivals filled the end of the corridor, Miko couldn't see anything behind them.

Ashanti's team floated into the corridor, concentrating their fire on the nearest bugs. There was only so much they'd be able to do, though.

_Won't be long before he's overwhelmed-and the rest of the team, too._ She bounced off the wall and caught a handhold.

Then she turned up her helmet's amplifier, drew in a deep breath, and yelled, "Hey! Which one of you chickenshit bastards shot Bulkhead in the back?"

#

Arcee's mouth fell open and she turned to stare at the doorway. Three Insecticons had entered the room, and stopped when they heard her voice.

"Miko," Arcee snapped, "what the fuck are you doing?"

"You'll see," her reply came over the comlink.

Jack aimed his EMP rifle at one of the three bugs on this side of the doorway and fired. The 'Con twitched and grunted, pushed against the nearer Insecticon's shoulder and turned to face Jack.

Jack glanced at Arcee and nodded. She centered her sniper rifle's crosshairs on the bug's optics, using the scope instead of relying on her targeting system, and punched an explosive round into his brain. The charge blew out most of his optic strip and ripped apart the components directly behind it. He convulsed violently for a second and floated limp in the air.

"Ah-hah." Arcee smiled grimly. "Just gotta hit 'em in exactly the right spot."

Jack nodded and turned his rifle on the nearer Insecticon, who had just finished turning around. Jack emped him and shifted his aim to the third bug while Arcee lined up her shot. She took it, and the bug lurched backward, green flames and shrapnel spewing from his blown-out optics. The body tumbled backward, cartwheeling slowly through the air.

Another bug floated past the doorway as Jack zapped his next target. "_I_ am the one."

Arcee blew the third bug's brains out

"Then I've got a score to settle with you, you son of a _bitch_," Miko yelled. "Come on. You and me. Let's dance."

"Miko," Optimus rumbled, his eyes wide in sudden fear, "don't!"

The 'Cons exchanged an amused glance.

"Or are you a coward?" Miko continued. "You afraid to fight one little girl?"

Optimus struggled to push past the bugs surrounding him, but even more piled on him. They clamped their hands onto his arms and legs and twisted and pulled, trying to tear him apart. He managed to wrench his right arm away from one of his opponents and plunge his blade into the bug's neck.

Arcee glanced at Jack and the others to be sure they weren't in immediate danger, and kicked off toward the doorway.

The Insecticon snarled and pulled himself along the wall toward Miko.

"Yeah, that's it! You don't have the balls to face an Autobot head-on, so a defenseless little kid like me should be right up your alley! Bring it, ya fuckin' pussy!"

The bug roared and launched at the end of the corridor just as Arcee reached the wall. She caught a glimpse of Miko's pink armor disappearing through a doorway as the Insecticon charged after her-followed by four others.

Arcee shook her head. "Miko, what the _hell_?"

An incoming message came from Miko's comlink.

"I'm sending you the locations of six nearby energon storerooms, just in case I can't pull this off," the girl whispered. "Of course, if I can, we'll be minus one of 'em in a couple minutes."

"Miko, _please_, don't take on those monsters alone!"

"Don't worry, they'll never see me coming." After a brief pause, she added, "But in case I don't come back from this, tell Bulkhead I love him like he's my brother. See you when I see you." She closed the channel.

"Shit," Arcee whispered.

"She's insane," Starscream muttered over the comlink.

Jack sighed and shook his head. "There's insane, and then there's _Miko_." He pushed off gently and drifted through the air.

"_Eheh._ I'll stay out of her way, then."

Arcee shared another glance with Jack and nodded at the bugs swarming Optimus. Moving as one, they turned to aim out the door.

"Brace yourself, Optimus. We're gonna see if we can knock some of 'em off you, but you might catch some of the EMP."

Before Optimus could answer, Starscream suddenly shouted, "I think I've found something!"

"About time," Arcee grumbled.

"It should stun the Insecticons, if not offline them permanently, but you'll need to get clear first. And I mean, as far away as possible."

"Wait! Optimus is right in the middle of them!"

"There is no time to delay," Optimus said, trying to wriggle his way out of the bugs' grip. He rammed his blade into another Insecticon's chest, but couldn't break free of the others. "Do it!"

"You asked for it," Starscream muttered.

"Everyone, take cover," Ashanti shouted. Her team flitted back into the room and headed for the far wall.

"Oh, hell." Arcee flung Jack and June in the same direction, followed up by grabbing the medics' hands and pushing against the wall, and sailed across the chamber. She reached the wall a few seconds after Jack and his mom, and Jack threw his arms around her. She embraced him and turned to watch Optimus and the Insecticons.

"We're all clear."

"Eat this, vermin!"

Something that looked like a lightning bolt snapped into the clump of Insecticons and all of them writhed and shrieked as electric arcs jumped all over their bodies. They drifted apart and Optimus hung in the air, groaning and convulsing, while the bolt jumped to one of the nearby bugs and from him to the others, and even to the walls, floor, and ceiling. The lights in the corridor flickered and faded out, and the arc from Starscream's weapon chain-jumped through all the remaining 'Cons.

"Everyone okay?" Arcee smiled at Jack and stroked the side of his helmet. He nodded, smiled, and touched her cheek.

The others sounded off...except Optimus. Arcee launched across the room toward his motionless body.

"Optimus?" As she floated closer, one of the bugs drifted out of the way and revealed his closed optics. "Optimus?"

Again, he remained motionless and silent.

"Oh, no." She activated her comlink. "Ratchet!"

"He's still alive, but unconscious."

Relief washed over her, but then a realization sank in. "That means the Insecticons are merely stunned, too. Fucking hell."

#

_Here we go._ Miko grasped the edge of the doorway and used it to swing herself into a ninety-degree turn-and there in front of her was a huge room filled with glowing blue energon packed into cubes. They had probably been stacked from floor to ceiling before Starscream had cut off the artificial gravity, but now they were floating free.

Clanking sounds came from the far end of the corridor and she paused to look over her shoulder. She grinned at the sight of the five enormous Insecticons scuttling over the walls and ceiling like xenomorphs in the hallways on LV-426.

_Gotcha, you assholes!_ She kicked herself past the glowing cubes, rebounded off the ceiling, and dived behind the cluster. She engaged her armor's stealth system, planted one of the satchel charges on a cube, armed it, and set the timer. _Thirty seconds should be enough._

She pushed herself to the wall on the left and found the bugs crawling through the door. They magnetized their feet to whatever surface they happened to be holding on to, and clanked toward the cubes, sweeping their glowing red optics slowly over the room.

One of them passed within a few feet of her and continued on by.

Smirking, she kept propelling herself along the wall and back into the corridor. She braced her feet on the side of a light fixture and pushed as hard as she could, rocketing herself back toward her friends.

_Any second now._

She'd nearly reached the branch in the hall when the charge blew. The resulting explosion nearly deafened her, leaving her ears ringing, and knocked the entire ship sideways. The wall on her right shot toward her and the impact bounced her into the opposite wall. All the lights in the corridor flickered off.

A gust of wind whipped past her and sent her tumbling through the air, then it died down abruptly.

Silence. All around her, impenetrable silence.

_Shit, I'm deaf._ She sighed. _Worth it, though. That one's for you, Bulk._ She smiled grimly as she continued drifting. She scanned for Cybertronian life signs and found none nearby.

As she turned in the air, the damage she'd caused rotated into view.

"Jesus Christ!" _Okay, I heard that. Not deaf, then._ But now she could see why everything had gone silent.

The entire room she'd lured the bugs into was _gone_. And so was the rest of the corridor and the wall across from the room. In fact, through the gaping hole in the wall, ceiling, and floor, she could see other rooms and halls that had been ripped open. Several Insecticon arms and legs and part of a head floated around a few yards away. The edges glowed red-hot and the rest of them were warped, as if they'd been partially melted.

"Miko!" Arcee's voice suddenly yelled into her ears. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." She grabbed onto the mangled edge of the hole to stop herself from floating into open space, looked around, and whistled softly. "That was a helluva thing."

"Did you...did you get the Insecticons?"

"Yep, they're scrap." She took a moment to draw in a few deep breaths and stare out into space. "I also kinda breached the hull. We're orbiting the moon."

"Wait a minute," Ashanti said. "You're exposed to space?"

"Yeah. Good thing this armor's airtight."

"Actually, these aren't spacesuits. They automatically seal up if they're submerged in water or surrounded by toxic gas, or anything else that isn't a normal atmosphere-but they're not equipped with oxygen tanks. They're just designed to keep you alive for a few minutes until you can get out of the water or gas or whatever."

"Oh." Miko stopped breathing deeply. "Well, fuck me."

"Also, since the whole ship didn't vent, that means emergency doors near you slammed shut to seal off the damaged area. You're trapped there."

"Don't worry about that. I'll find a way back to you. Air vent or maintenance shaft or something. Just take care of my buddy, okay?"

"You got it, Miko," Arcee said.

"Thanks." She gazed out at the surface of the moon hanging above her. It looked almost close enough to touch.

_Wait a minute._ She frowned, remembering something about the moon that she only vaguely remembered.

"Uh, there could be another problem. Since we're orbiting the moon, sooner or later we'll go around to the far side. The moon will be between us and Earth."

"Shit," Jensen groaned. "We'll lose communications with Earth."

Jack spoke up, suddenly sounding panicked. "And that means Arcee will lose her link to her Mini-Me."

"Oh, hell." Arcee's remote-operated body on the _Nemesis_ would simply revert to an empty shell and she would be stuck back in the Autobot base, unable to help her friends or even know what was happening here.

Miko turned around, switched on the lights on the sides of her helmet, and began scanning the walls for an opening.

"Just keep working. I'll find my way back to you." _Before I run out of air, I hope._ "We can finish this before we lose contact with the base. We _have_ to."


	4. Chapter 4

"How much longer?" Jack said as he watched Starscream extract Optimus from the tangle of inert Insecticons.

"Until we pass behind the moon?" Screamer pushed one last bug away and nudged Optimus's unconscious body into the room. "We're only a few minutes away."

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps and honks. Jack glanced at him and turned to Arcee.

"Just a couple minutes left before he finishes the last of my parts," Arcee translated. She flicked a worried glance down the corridor toward Knockout's lab, where Bulkhead's badly damaged body floated. "Then he'll need to start working on the parts for Bulkhead."

"There won't be enough time." Jack's heart pounded and he glanced around, tried to keep his breathing steady, and locked eyes with Arcee. She stared back at him, eyes wide and mouth agape, clearly trying not to panic and failing.

"Shit." Her mouth quivered. "I won't be able to keep you safe."

Jack put his hand on the wall and pushed, sending himself drifting over to her. He caught her outstretched hand and she pulled him toward her.

"We can hold out for a few minutes. Or however long it takes us to reestablish the connection with Earth."

"Kid," Ashanti said, then hesitated.

"What?" He glanced at her and wondered if he even wanted to know what she was gearing up to tell him.

"It'll take longer than that." Ashanti held his gaze and shook her head slowly. "Assuming a velocity similar to the Apollo missions, we're looking at forty-five minutes."

"_What?_" A cold shiver ran through Jack and his breath almost caught in his throat. He tried to shake it off. "No, this ship's got to be faster."

"_If_ the main engines are performing a burn." Arcee shook her head and her optics opened wider. "And if we've already settled into orbit, they _won't_ be. Assuming we're not simply passing by the moon and heading out into deep space."

_Come on, Jack, pull yourself together._ He put his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. _We'll get through this. We've got to get these parts back to the base or she's dead. We'll get it done whether she's able to stay connected to her Pretender body or not._

He took his helmet off and let it float beside him, and cupped Arcee's cheeks in his hands. "We'll be okay. And so will you." He kissed her. Only for a second or two, as much as he wanted the odd yet intoxicating sensation of her metal lips on his to continue. He pulled back and smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She smiled back, plucked his helmet out of the air, handed it to him, and turned all-business again. "If anyone has any ideas on how to turn the ship around...?"

"Not without mounting a full assault on the command deck." Starscream pulled himself through the door and drifted toward the lab. "With us being down three people, I wouldn't recommend it."

Bee fired off another burst of beeps, hums, and whirs.

"Maybe," Arcee muttered.

"Maybe what?" Jack secured his helmet and arched an eyebrow at her.

"The _Nemesis_ has a space bridge. We can use that to get back home."

"Wouldn't that leave the base's coordinates in the ship's computer?" June stared at the newly-manufactured parts and wrung her hands.

Jack grinned. "We can bridge to low orbit, just inside our ground bridge's range, and Ratchet can bring us the rest of the way." _Before we burn up on reentry, I hope._

"Can't we just bridge to a location on the ground?"

Bee fired off few more honks and bleeps, and Jack waited for Arcee to translate.

"We'd be using an unfamiliar set of controls and have to calculate the exit point on the fly. No time to refine it enough. If we're even slightly off, we could step through and find ourselves inside a mountain or deep under ground. Or in the middle of a busy intersection."

"Ah." June let out a long breath. "Okay, yeah, that could cause some problems."

Jack nodded. "Okay, then, I guess we're going with the bridging-into-orbit thing."

"Sounds like a plan." Arcee turned to scowl at the Insecticons floating in the corridor. "And even if it didn't, we'd need to get away from the bugs before they reboot, anyway."

"Okay, then. Where's the space bridge?" Jack propelled himself to the door way and grabbed the edge. He looked down the corridor and found Starscream pulling Bulkhead out of the lab.

"I can take you there," Screamer said. "But we'll have to take out anyone in the room, and won't be able to come back here for anything."

Arcee pointed at her new parts. "We'll have to find something to put all that crap in so we can haul it all down there in one shot. And then we'll have to wait until Bulk's parts are ready."

"Let's start looking, then." Jack flipped over and kicked against the doorway, shooting himself back into the room. "If there's nothing here that'll work, maybe the lab has something."

"Right. Let's move." Arcee's optics closed suddenly and her body hung motionless in the air.

"Arcee?" Jack grabbed one of Optimus's fingers as he passed by, swung around, and darted back to her. "Arcee!"

She didn't move. He closed his eyes for a second, put his arms around her, and braced his feet on the console.

"Shit. We've lost her." He pushed off and carried her through the air to the parts Bee had manufactured.

Bee spared a second to reach out and stop their forward motion once they reached the cluster of parts. Jack nodded at him and smiled briefly before leaving Arcee's miniature body among her full-size parts. He caressed her cheek, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Like I said, let's get moving."

#

"Jack!" Arcee's optics snapped open and she reached out, but he was no longer in front of her. She glanced around frantically and found herself in the Autobot base with Ratchet, Raf, Mendoza, and Conrad. "No. Oh, shit, no! I've lost the link."

"Easy, there," Ratchet said. "No sudden movements. You don't need to damage anything _else_ now that they've finished manufacturing your parts. They won't have a chance to go back and make any new ones."

"Yeah," she mumbled. She slumped against the wall, pulled her knees slowly up to her chest, and put her arms around them. "I just..."

"I know." Mendoza smiled up at her. "Jack can take care of himself. Remember when Airachnid was hunting him in that forest while you were immobilized? He not only stayed ahead of her, he damned near killed her. And he survived his second encounter with her when you two were separated."

Arcee nodded and managed to calm herself a little. "Yeah, that's true. He blew her up again, too."

"Also, he was alone both of those times. Now, he's not. He's got most of your team with him."

"Yeah. You're right." Arcee closed her eyes and sighed. "Thanks. I can't stop worrying, but-"

"Of course you can't. You love him." Mendoza smiled again and put her arm around her husband's shoulders. "I'd feel the exact same way if I were in your shoes."

Arcee nodded. Awkward silence settled over the repair bay and stretched out until Arcee couldn't stand it anymore. _Forty-five minutes of this is gonna drive me insane._ Even if the _Nemesis_ had approached the moon at a faster velocity than Ashanti had assumed, it might only cut down the wait by half.

_Gotta find a way to distract myself or I'll burst a capacitor._ She glanced around again, and her optics finally settled on Mendoza and her husband, standing there with their arms around each other. Of all the unexpected and flat-out bizarre things that had happened over the past few months, Mendoza had been one of the most surprising-and the most welcome.

"Hey, uh, I guess I owe you an apology. You're going out of your way to help me after I haven't exactly been friendly to you."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know me when we first met. Nobody had any reason to trust me. You didn't even know my little subspecies of Cybertronians existed before a few months ago, and the first ones you met tried to kill you and your friends."

"Well, it's not just that." Arcee looked away and stared at a random spot on the wall across from her. "It never occurred to me that a Decepticon could have a change of heart. I mean, _really_ change. I always thought...well, they're our enemies, and that's that."

"I won't try to hide what I once was. I did some damned distasteful things during what little time I was involved in the war. I witnessed atrocities that shook my belief in our cause. I started to wonder if we kept fighting only because so many of us had been twisted by countless thousands of years of killing." Mendoza sighed. "Then I saw our homeworld die. All I could think of was how senseless it all was. What the hell was the point in fighting on?"

"Well," Conrad said, "at least you and some of the others stopped. I guess Megatron and the rest haven't learned their lesson."

"I'm afraid they're too far gone. Just completely power-hungry and insane. Anyone with a shred of sanity would've stopped long before the war left Cybertron uninhabitable." She shook her head and rubbed a hand over her face. "They think they're so much better than humanity, so much more advanced and enlightened, but all they've done is kill each other-for longer than humans have existed. They know _nothing_."

"To be fair, we humans have done some pretty stupid, screwed-up things, ourselves."

"Nothing compared to us destroying our whole planet. In the 1980s there was a palpable fear that America and the Soviet Union would get into a war that could've incinerated the whole planet's surface, but you didn't do it. You made peace with your mortal enemies. You're still growing out of your infancy, but I think you've made more progress in a few decades than my species has made in a million years or longer." Mendoza paused a few seconds to pull herself together, smiled, and stroked Conrad's cheek. "How could I _not_ fall in love with one of you?"

He blushed.

Ratchet rolled his eyes and turned back to his console. He frowned at the readouts, picked up his tools, and hurried over to Arcee.

"Lay down. I need to make some more adjustments."

"Something about to fall apart again?" She leaned to the left and tried to move her arm out to prop herself up momentarily-but it merely twitched. She lost her balance and toppled over on her side. "Fuck. What the hell just happened?"

Ratchet slid his arm under her and eased her onto her back.

"I can't move my arm. What's...oh, hell. I'm starting to shut down, aren't I?" _Please, no! I can't leave Jack alone on that ship!_

"Don't start that kind of talk. I simply need to fix a few things and you'll be...well, you'll be able to, uh..."

"Last a little longer?"

"Well, I wasn't going to phrase it like-well, yes, basically."

"How much longer?"

"Not much if you don't let me concentrate."

"Sorry." She closed her mouth and tried not to let her spark pulsate out of control. She'd faced death countless times, but never like this. Even that horrible day Airachnid had captured and tortured her, while in restraints that dangled her above the floor, she still hadn't been _completely_ helpless. She could've at least kicked at Airachnid, lashed out at her no matter how feebly.

But now? All she could do was lay here and wait to see if she survived the next few hours-or minutes. If her friends couldn't get those parts back here in time, she would simply...stop. And there wasn't a single goddamned thing she could do about it.

"I'm opening you up now." Ratchet moved her arm out of the way and began working on her chest plate.

She nodded and closed her optics. And not, she _hoped_, for the last time.

#

_Damn it!_ Miko shook her head again, more frantically this time. Her tears jiggled around, but remained in and around her eyes. Without gravity, they wouldn't trickle down her cheeks, instead clumping into a single mass and clinging to her face like a huge fucking booger.

Bursting into tears again sure as hell hadn't helped any, but every time she let her mind wander, it always drifted back to that intense beam drilling into Bulkhead's back and out through his chest. The thought of losing him had been too much for her.

_Stop thinking about it! If I start crying again, I won't be able to see anything._

And, she'd noticed a few minutes ago, she'd begun to have trouble breathing. Her armor had sealed against the vacuum, but once she used up what air was trapped inside, that was it.

_Whatever. Wouldn't be the first time I've nearly suffocated._

She tugged on a twisted strut and propelled herself forward, watching her helmet lights flit over the wall, searching for an opening, or a vent cover, or simply a crack in the wall big enough for her to fit through.

Something moved in the corner of her eye. She glanced to the right and found a purple and black shape distorted through her clingy tears.

It shifted around and a glowing red shape moved into view. Long, narrow, thicker in the middle and pointy on the ends, more or less vertical. A few seconds passed before she realized what it was.

_Optic strip, turned sideways. Oh, great, it's a Vehicon._ Her head throbbed and her lungs struggled to draw a breath. _Well, shit._

She looked around again, but there was nowhere to go.

Another black shape passed in front of her face. A hand, she realized. The 'Con was reaching out to grab her, probably crush the life out of her. Not how she wanted to go out, but if the son of a bitch waited a few more seconds, she wouldn't be awake to feel it.

Enormous metal fingers clamped around her. She let her eyes close.

Nothing else happened for several minutes. There was a vague sensation of movement, but she wasn't sure it was real.

Distant, muffled sounds reached her. Clanks, thunks, whirs.

Suddenly, fresh air flowed into her lungs. She sucked in a series of deep, gasping breaths, and coughed. She fumbled with the latches on her helmet, unlocked them, and tugged her helmet off. She wiped the tears from her eyes and blinked rapidly. Her head still ached.

She looked around. The tunnel was lit by a few dim, flickering light strips along the ceiling, but appeared intact. She pushed her right hand against a strut on the wall, turned around-and found four Vehicons floating nearby, staring at her.

_Guess they want to interrogate me first. Maybe torture me._ She let go of her helmet and put her hands on her hips. _Well, this is just fuckin' great._

"Are you alright?" one of the Vehicons said. It was hard to tell which one, since each of them had identical, mouthless faces.

_Huh?_ Miko raised an eyebrow. As far as oxygen-starved-brain hallucinations went, this was the last thing she'd expected.

"Aside from a headache, not bad." She flicked her eyes from one to the other. _Maybe these guys are the fifth column Arcee and Mendoza were talking about._

"The explosion knocked out cameras and sensors throughout this section," one of them-maybe the same one?-said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "We were sent to inspect the damage and report back. That's how we found you."

"That's what we've been reduced to," one of the others grumbled. "Ever since Megatron found those damned Insecticons, we've been stuck with the most menial tasks."

"I prefer it to being shot at," the first one said. "Let the Autobots kill a few of the bugs, for a change."

"Huh." Miko smiled grimly. "Guess there's no love lost between you and the bugs, eh?"

"That's an understatement."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, there are five Insecticons you don't have to worry about anymore." Miko pointed back the way they'd come.

"What do you mean?"

"That explosion you were sent to look at? There ya go. Five bugs, turned into scrap metal."

The Vehicons exchanged a glance and turned back to stare at her.

"Y...you did that?"

"Fuckin'-A. Lured 'em into an energon storage room, planted a charge, and cooked off the whole bunch."

They stared for several more seconds, giving Miko the impression that, if they had mouths, they'd be gaping in awe right now.

"Impressive," the nearest one said. "That's really, _really_ impressive." He finally recovered from the shock and pointed at the floor. "Your team has been spotted heading for the space bridge chamber. We assume they're planning to make their escape from there." He projected a holographic image in front of her; layout of the ship, Miko realized.

"That's us, and this is how you get to the rest of your team." He pointed at a set of blips and traced a route to another set, connecting them with a glowing line.

"You're actually helping us?" Miko put her helmet back on and captured a photo of the hologram with its camera.

"Well, to put it into human terms, we're just sick of this shit. We put our lives at risk in every engagement, most of those who go into battle don't come back alive, and Megatron and the rest don't give a damn." He shook his head. "Some of us can't see the point anymore."

"Why stick around, then?"

"Not many places we could hide on your world, at least without remaining permanently in vehicle mode. Not much of a life."

"Besides," one of the others said, "we might be able to do more right here than we could anywhere else. At least, until things get too hot."

"You should return to your friends. They won't leave without you, and from what I understand, time is an issue."

"Yeah, it is. Thanks." She smiled before turning away. "Maybe we'll run into each other again."

"I'd like that." He sounded surprised at the admission. He shook it off, turned and floated down a side corridor.

Miko pushed away from the strut, activated her armor's stealth system, and headed off to meet up with the rest of Team Prime.

#

"Here it is." Starscream braced a foot against the edge of the doorway and pushed against Bulkhead's shoulders to halt his forward motion. He rotated toward the door and lifted the arc cannon he'd taken from Knockout's lab.

"Hold on." Jack whipped his hand up and shook his head. "When you zapped the Insecticons with that thing, it also knocked out the lights and other systems in the corridor. Fire it in that room and the space bridge could be disabled."

Starscream's optics opened wider and he lowered the weapon. "Oh. Right. Crap."

Jack sighed and glanced at the crate containing Arcee's parts and her Pretender body. Her eyes were still closed, her body motionless.

_Come on, wake up!_ He waited a few more seconds, sighed again, and focused on what was ahead. _One last fight. Once we get through the bridge, we're home free. More or less._

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way, then." Ashanti checked her rifle and looked at Bumblebee. "We're ready when you are."

He nodded, turned to check on the still-unconscious Optimus, and let out a burst of beeps and hums. Jack sighed yet again.

"Just a note for future armor upgrades," he said to Ashanti. "Install translation software."

"I was thinking the same thing." Ashanti tossed him a quick smile, shifted her attention to the door, and held her gun ready.

Bee tapped a button on the panel beside the doors. They slid open and the team burst into the room. A half-dozen Vehicons turned and deployed their blasters.

Half of them shifted their aim to the other half.

_What the hell?_ Jack took cover under the nearest console and aimed his EMP rifle at the nearest pair.

"Stand down," one of the Vehicons said to another. "Let them through."

"What are you doing?"

"Whatever we can to end the war. Stand down."

"Traitor." The 'Con twisted suddenly, jammed his blaster into the other's chest, and fired.

"_No!_" Another Vehicon-with a distinctly female voice-launched across the room and extended a blade from her right arm. The other 'Con spun toward her just in time to catch her blade right through his optics and out the back of his head. She shoved the body away and pulled the wounded Vehicon out of the line of fire.

Behind her, another Vehicon pointed his blaster at her back. Bee drilled him with a burst from his rifle.

The remaining pair of Vehicons grappled and tumbled through the air until they drifted out of sight. Jack kicked the wall and floated forward. The sounds of fists bashing metal and blasters discharging started before he'd moved far enough to catch sight of them again.

"Can't get a clear shot," Ashanti muttered.

Jack aimed his EMP rifle as he continued floating across the enormous chamber. _Well, since this'll only stun them, I should zap both-_

One of the Vehicons ripped a piece of the other's chest plate off and rammed his blade through the opening. Electric arcs leaped from the wound and he released a long, drawn-out shriek that chilled Jack's blood. His heart slammed against his ribs and for a moment he couldn't breathe.

_Was that the good one or the bad one?_ Jack bumped into the wall and bounced slowly back.

The 'Con swung his blasters around to aim at Jack and the team.

Jack emped him and everyone else punched dozens of incendiary rounds through his chest and head, then turned to face the female and the damaged male. She kept her arms around him, but shook her head.

"We're standing down. Don't shoot. Please."

Bee glanced at the rest of the team, nodded, and lowered his rifle. Everyone else did the same. Jack clipped his EMP gun to his back and sighed.

The wounded Vehicon twitched and sparks crackled from the hole in his chest.

Jack looked around slowly. As his gaze passed over Bulkhead's body, Starscream popped up from where he'd been hiding behind it. Jack shook his head and sneered. "Hey, 'Scream, it's safe for you to come out now."

Starscream narrowed his eyes and gave Bulkhead a push to float him into the chamber. Bee flitted back into the hallway and towed Optimus in, then returned for the crates holding the parts for Arcee and Bulk. He left them floating near the gigantic, circular structure of the space bridge at the far end of the room, and zipped over one of the consoles.

Jack switched his comlink on. "Miko, we're at the space bridge. _Please_ tell me you're nearby."

"I'm on my way."

"Good. Hurry it up, though. We're getting ready to bridge back to Earth."

A motion in the corner of Jack's eye caught his attention as his mom floated over to him. He turned and found two more Vehicons passing through the door, pushing a crate packed with cubes of energon. Both of them raised their hands as soon as they realized they'd been spotted.

"We're not here to fight. We figured you could use this."

"They've probably poisoned it," Starscream grumbled.

"Oh, fuck you."

"_What_?"

The Vehicon on the left waved his hands and shook his head. "Oh, pardon me. I should've said, 'Fuck you, _Commander_.'"

"_Former_ Commander," the other Vehicon quipped.

"Oh, that's right." He suddenly noticed the female and her comrade and darted over to them. "Shit. How bad is it?"

"The blast missed his spark, but barely."

"He can be repaired if we can get him to the medical bay fast enough."

She nodded and turned to look at Jack and the others. "You'd better fire up the space bridge before they send reinforcements."

Bumblebee turned back to the console and began tapping buttons.

Starscream glanced over his shoulder, froze, and released a sort of strangled whimper

_Oh, hell, _now_ what?_ Jack winced and turned to see what he was staring at.

A new 'Con had entered the room. An all too familiar one. Huge, dark gray with purple highlights, vaguely bat-like shape, with a blank faceplate and disturbingly long forearms. Jack had come face to face with him only once before, and once had been enough.

Another chill rippled through him. "Bee, get that bridge open _now_! Miko, get your ass in here!"

"Oh, no." The female Vehicon's voice was a soft, quavering moan. "_Soundwave_."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone snapped their guns up to aim at Soundwave. He remained motionless and his blank faceplate simply stared back at them. Panels in the walls and ceiling opened, and sixteen blaster turrets deployed. They tracked around and each locked onto a different target. June's helmet cameras analyzed each turret's position and calculated their aim. The paths appeared in her HUD and she gasped.

_They're only aiming at the humans._ Which was probably the only thing that would get the Autobots to back down.

The only comfort was her knowledge that their armor could take one or two hits and remain intact. Any more than that, though, and they'd be fried.

One of the Vehicons who'd brought the crate of energon into the room floated around behind Soundwave. He drifted closer, raised his blaster, and aimed it at the back of Soundwave's head.

Without even turning to look at him, Soundwave pointed his arm back toward the Vehicon, deployed his blaster, and shot him in the face.

"No," the female Vehicon moaned again, staring as the body tumbled slowly to the back of the room.

June looked over at Jack, Bumblebee, and Ashanti's team. Bee released a low, sullen tone, and began to lower his rifle. Starscream floated behind him, staring wide-eyed at Soundwave and gibbering and trembling.

Then, suddenly, something beside him stirred. June's eyes flicked to the right and she sucked in another deep breath.

Optimus had opened his eyes and started looking around. He reached out to the wall, grasped a handhold, and turned himself around to face Soundwave.

At the same moment, the air in front of Soundwave rippled and Miko appeared, hovering upside-down a few feet from his faceplate. Soundwave twitched slightly and tilted his head up to look directly at her.

"Hi." With a casual move, Miko stuck a satchel charge to his faceplate, reactivated her stealth system, and vanished. "Bye."

He whipped his right arm up to pull the charge off his face.

It detonated and the blast knocked him backward.

The female 'Con glanced over at Bee. "Activate the bridge while you have time."

Bee went back to work on the console. Optimus reached over to Bulkhead and grabbed the shotgun that was still clamped to his back. He aimed at Soundwave and said, "Everyone, move clear."

The wounded Vehicon pointed a twitching hand at the cubes of energon. His voice glitched. "Give-give-_vvvvv_-me one o-o-o-of those."

The female stared at him and shook her head. "What? No! No, don't even-"

"Ran d-d-d-diagnostic. Only have _ffffff_-few seconds l-l-l-lef-left."

The space bridge activated and a swirling green vortex filled the empty space in the center of the enormous metal ring.

"Everyone, evacuate." Optimus glanced at Bee without taking his aim off Soundwave. "Go. Take our friends home."

Starscream took one of the cubes from the crate and pushed it toward the wounded 'Con. The female grabbed it out of the air, hesitated, and handed it to her comrade. She turned him around and pushed him toward the floor. When he reached it, he activated electromagnets in his feet and clamped himself to the floor. Starscream shoved the crate through the bridge and turned to grab the crates holding the parts for Arcee and Bulkhead. Bee sent Bulkhead through and turned back to Optimus.

"Hurry. I'll be right behind you." Optimus never took his optics off Soundwave.

Soundwave recovered from the blast, magnetized his feet to the floor, and faced Optimus. His faceplate had a spiderweb pattern of cracks across it, but was otherwise intact. The blaster turrets tracked the humans as they darted toward the space bridge.

"If you are thinking about shutting the bridge down or harming any of the humans," Optimus rumbled, striding forward and aiming at Soundwave's head, "_reconsider_."

Soundwave stared at him for several more seconds, unmoving, not showing the slightest hint of emotion.

The turrets opened fire. One of the beams struck June in the back and a barrage of warning notifications popped up in her HUD. She screamed and curled up, instinctively throwing her arms over her head, expecting any second to feel her flesh boil off her bones. Her heart pounded and for a second she couldn't breathe.

"Mom!" Jack's voice. She opened her eyes, looked around, and found him reaching for her as he drifted past.

The rest of the team recovered from the hits they'd taken and tried to turn and fire back while the turrets continued tracking them.

Optimus pulled the trigger. Soundwave twisted to the left a split-second before the huge projectile launched from the muzzle. It zipped past him, punched into the wall, and exploded.

At the same time, the turrets fired again. June gasped. _No!_

Behind her, someone screamed. Her HUD didn't register another hit. She tried to turn around to see what had happened behind her, but all she could to was tumble slowly.

The screaming continued.

"Christ," Jack moaned, sounding as if he were two seconds away from vomiting. "Dawson!"

Ashanti managed to grab onto the edge of a console and turn herself around. June caught a glimpse of her wide eyes and open mouth before she clenched her teeth and emptied her clip into Soundwave. The recoil sent her into a slow backward somersault, but she kept adjusting her aim to keep her bullets on target.

Optimus narrowed his eyes and continued firing at Soundwave, and Soundwave dodged each shot. Once the shotgun was empty, Optimus flung it through the bridge and extended his blades.

Bee shoved a fresh clip into his gun and blazed away at Soundwave, stopping only when Optimus took a step forward and raised his right arm into striking position.

Soundwave snapped his left arm up, reaching for something on the back of his head.

A sudden explosion threw him forward, and Optimus halted his advance.

One of the satchel charges Miko had taken, June realized. Before she could give it any more thought, Dawson drifted into view, and she reflexively tried to cover her mouth with her hand. Her palm hit the front of her helmet, but she barely noticed.

His armor was warped and bubbled all over, glowing white-hot in several places, and some of it flexed as he thrashed and screamed, turned semi-molten from the intense heat of the blasters. June realized he must've taken two hits, from the turret aimed at him _and_ the one aimed at her. He must've drifted into its line of fire the instant it discharged.

And he was still alive-still _screaming_.

Soundwave regained his balance, raised his blasters toward Optimus-then another satchel charge appeared out of nowhere and struck his chest. He whipped his hand up to yank the charge off, but it detonated before he could touch it. The blast knocked him backward, but his feet remained attached to the floor.

Until another charge twirled down to his left foot, touched it, and exploded before it could bounce back. It kicked his foot loose from the floor and he grabbed a control panel to right himself.

"That's the last one," Miko whispered over the comms.

The damaged Vehicon stood just outside Soundwave's reach, held the energon cube in front of his chest, and pressed his blaster against it. Soundwave shifted the angle of his head slightly to stare at him.

"_Fffffff_-fire those t-t-t-t-turrets again and I'll roast us b-b-both off!"

Soundwave remained motionless. Twitching and trembling but not taking his optics off Soundwave, the Vehicon called out to everyone else. "Go. N-_nnnnn_-now!"

Starscream zipped through the bridge, propelling one of the crates ahead of him. The other Vehicon followed, and the female paused to rest her hand on the wounded one's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Goodbye."

"Sur-_sssss_-survive."

She nodded, turned, and headed for the vortex. Bee gave each human team member a gentle nudge toward the space bridge, and she joined him, pushing June, Jack, Harris, and Alvarez in the right direction. Finally, she scooped Dawson up in her hands and stepped into the bridge.

June rotated slowly, and Optimus came into view a few seconds before she floated into the vortex.

"I am also sorry," Optimus said to the Vehicon.

"Just m-make sure _iiii_-it was wo_rrr_rth it."

"We will. Thank you." He disengaged his magnets and pushed off toward the bridge.

June couldn't take her eyes away from Soundwave and the Vehicon. The 'Con flicked a split-second glance at her and the others, waited until they were about to transition through-and fired his blaster point-blank into the energon.

A blue-white flash engulfed everything.

#

"I've got the link back!" Arcee closed her optics as everyone else jumped and snapped their heads around to look at her, startled by her sudden exclamation. She concentrated on her Pretender body, rebooted its systems, and opened its optics.

And found herself stuffed into a crate filled with the parts Bee had manufactured. She climbed out of them and looked around.

_We're in space? What the hell did I miss?_ She held on to the edge of the crate and turned herself around, located Starscream and Bee and the crate holding Bulk's parts. A moment later she found Ashanti's team.

And the vortex of a space bridge. _And_ two Vehicons.

Optimus emerged from the bridge an instant before an energon blast erupted from it. The vortex dissipated immediately.

_Oh, shit._ Arcee opened her comlink-and was bombarded by a man's gurgling screams. A chill rushed through her spark. "Jack?"

"I'm here, Arcee-I'm okay."

Arcee did a quick scan of her surroundings and found everyone's armor transponders-except Dawson. That was enough to tell her who was screaming.

Back in the Autobot base, Arcee glanced at Ratchet and snapped, "We need a ground bridge."

"Working on it! They're not in range yet!"

She nodded and focused on everyone around her Mini-Me, keeping an eye on the two Vehicons. _Huh. They're not making any hostile moves. _She pointed at them and arched a brow plate. "Optimus?"

"They helped us escape-at great cost." He turned to the two 'Cons. "If Soundwave knows about your rebellion, then so does Megatron."

One of them nodded. "I sent a warning to the others just before I entered the space bridge. If they managed to get away before anyone started looking for them, they'll join us as soon as they can."

Arcee pushed away from the crate and floated into Jack's arms. He pulled her into a tight embrace and sighed.

"It's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, babe. _Damned_ good!" She looked over at Dawson, still held gently in the Vehicon's hands, screaming weakly. Another cold sensation washed over her. "What the hell happened? He looks _melted_."

"He was hit by the turrets in the ceiling and walls of the bridge room. _Several_ times."

"Shit." She zoomed in on Dawson and found the inside of his visor splattered with blood.

Ashanti glanced at him, aimed her rifle in the opposite direction, and fired a single shot. The recoil propelled her toward him. The 'Con reached out to catch her when she'd drifted close enough. Ashanti looked at his visor and shuddered.

Dawson managed to moan something that sounded like, "_Kih...muh..._"

Ashanti froze. "You sure?" she whispered.

"_Puhhhhhh...!_"

"Jesus," June mumbled. "Did he say what I think he said?"

Jensen sighed. "Well, if I were in as bad a shape as he is, _I_ sure as hell wouldn't want to live."

"_Kih...muh...ki...kih..._"

"Okay, okay. Shhh." Ashanti fumbled with the latches on his helmet, then stopped. "Goddamn it. The latches...it's all melted together. I can't...I'm sorry."

The only sound coming over Dawson's comm was a quiet sob.

She raised her rifle. "I wish I didn't have to do it this way, but-"

"I can," the Vehicon said softly. "I can make it quick. If you're sure this is what you want?"

He managed to nod. The 'Con looked at Ashanti.

Ashanti nodded slowly, reluctantly.

The 'Con held Dawson's body in her left hand and gripped his helmet with her right.

"_Duhh...uht..._"

She ended his pain with a quick twist. Ashanti held the body in her arms and let out a long, shuddering breath.

Arcee looked around slowly at everyone else, taking in their shocked or numb expressions, and noted that even Starscream looked unsettled, staring at Dawson's body with wide optics and parted lips. Finally, she put her arms around Jack again.

Back in the base, she opened her optics and looked over at Ratchet. "Are we in range yet?"

"Almost. They're drifting in the right direction. Twenty more seconds. I'm activating the bridge."

"Good. Let's bring everyone home."

"As soon as they arrive," Ratchet said, turning to meet her gaze as he pushed the lever and the bridge punched a hole through space, "I need to start operating on you. And I mean, _immediately_."

#

"Hey, Jack, Arcee."

He looked up and smiled shakily. "Hi, Mom."

"Hey, June," Arcee said softly, smiling and waving her free hand while keeping her other hand clasped firmly around Jack's.

"Mind if I join you?" June motioned at the floor where he and Arcee's Mini-Me had been sitting for nearly an hour, watching Ratchet, Optimus, Bee, and the two Vehicons replace her and Bulkhead's damaged parts. Both of them were in such bad shape that the replacements needed to be done immediately for both of them. Since Ratchet could only perform one operation at a time, he and Bumblebee worked on Arcee and Optimus and the Vehicons handled Bulkhead, with Ratchet talking them through it.

Not the ideal situation, Jack had realized immediately, but a few extra pairs of hands were critical right now, and they had already sacrificed their future and willingly placed themselves in the hands of their sworn enemies. There was a definite chance that they could be trusted at least a little.

Jack nodded and his mom sank down onto the floor beside him. She put her helmet down beside her and let the back of her head thump gently against the wall. Dried tears streaked her cheeks and fresh ones were on the verge of spilling from her eyes.

"You okay?" Jack whispered.

"I don't know." She sighed. "We finished the preliminary examination of Dawson's body. Couldn't do much more because...Christ...when those beams hit him and his armor failed...that much energy..." She took her gloves off and wiped her eyes. "It partially melted the armor and flash-cooked his body. And fused the armor to his skin. He wouldn't have survived much longer, but however long it might've been..." She shook her head and sighed.

"Ashanti made the right call, then," Arcee said, reaching across Jack to pat her hand.

"She doubted it at first, but yeah, it was the right call." June sniffled and closed her eyes. "I've seen a lot of bad things, working in the ER back in Jasper. People who were in car crashes, people who had been shot or stabbed, kids with broken arms or legs from bicycle accidents. Nothing as horrible as this, though. _Nothing_."

Jack put his arm around her. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Believe it or not," Arcee said, flicking a glance at Starscream standing out of everyone's way but remaining in everyone's view, "that's what Starscream said a while ago. He's been fighting us since the war started. I don't even want to think about the things he's done to captured Autobots, and he said he's _never_ heard anyone scream like Dawson did. I never thought anything like that could shake _him_ up, but it did, unless he's just putting on an act." She shrugged.

June nodded absently and continued staring at nothing in particular for a few more minutes. Finally, she sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, looked around as if searching for something to talk about, and pointed at the ongoing surgery.

"You're still conscious while they operate? Isn't that kind of..."

"Well, Ratchet turned my pain receptors off when I first started falling apart on the inside. And, well, he said that if he puts me into standby for the operation, I might not come out of it again."

_What?_ Jack snapped his head around to stare at her and opened his mouth. She shook her head and held her hand up.

"Take it easy. I'm feeling a lot better now-I can tell some of my systems are running more smoothly. I think I'm out of danger now."

"Not quite," Ratchet half muttered, half snapped. "Getting there, though."

"Good enough for me."

Jack smiled, leaned over, and gave her a quick kiss. She grinned briefly.

"Okay, I _definitely_ feel better now." She slipped her arm around Jack's shoulders and he leaned against her. She looked back at the others and said, "I wonder how Bulkhead's doing."

"Getting there," Ratchet grumbled. "Now, if we could work without distractions, please?"

"Sorry." Arcee glanced at Jack and shook her head.

Footsteps echoed into the repair bay. Jack glanced to the left and found Conrad and Mendoza approaching. Mendoza had a tablet tucked under her left arm. They smiled and waved.

"How are things going?"

"Hey, Rosalina." Arcee nodded at the still in-progress operation. "They're working on it. I just hope none of us ever have to go through any of this again."

"I know. The cost of this damned war is too high-for all of us." She turned to June. "I'm sorry Case and Dawson died. I wish I'd known them better."

"I'm kind of glad I didn't." June winced. "I know that sounds horrible, but if I'd known them better, it would've made losing them even worse."

"True. Well, the good news is, you'll never have to raid the _Nemesis_ for parts again." She held the tablet out to Arcee. "Have a look at that. While Bumblebee was fabricating the parts you needed, he also copied the schematics for the fabricator itself and stored them on the memory unit that contained your specs."

It took Jack a moment to remember the USB drive-like device the 'Bots had brought with them. It seemed like a long time ago. Hard to believe it was only a couple hours.

Arcee scrolled through a few pages, grinned, and handed the tablet back. "That's wonderful. Once that's built, we won't have to worry about replacing parts ever again."

"Yep. Also, if your Pretender body is damaged beyond repair, you'll be able to build a new one." Mendoza scrolled to a specific image on the tablet and showed it to Arcee. "Not only that, but here's another part you'll be able to fabricate and install in your actual body if you want. Y'know, if you and Jack decide you want an additional option, just in case you're not able to use your Mini-Me for whatever reason."

"That's my favorite part, personally," Conrad said. Mendoza whapped him on the shoulder and he blushed.

Arcee stared at the image and raised a brow plate. "What's th-_oh_! Seriously? It's a pussy?"

June inhaled sharply, sucked a mouthful of saliva down the wrong pipe, and erupted into a coughing fit. Jack patted her back and raised an eyebrow at Arcee.

She passed the tablet back to Mendoza and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, uh, that _is_ what they're called, right? Or did I get it wrong?"

"That's one word for it." Jack blushed.

"Oh, good. I was starting to think it's actually called a 'kitty' or something."

The outer ends of Jack's eyebrows dipped and the inner ones rose. Arcee grinned and nudged his shoulder.

"Gotcha."

"Oh, you're just-" Jack burst out laughing. Arcee grinned and put her arm back around his shoulders.

"That's better. I remember hearing somewhere that laughing is medicinal. Or whatever the saying is." She looked over at June. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'll recover," June rasped.

"Sorry. I didn't expect that to happen."

"That's okay, I didn't expect you to say something like that."

Arcee leaned over to pat her shoulder.

Jack shook his head. "You had me going for a second. I should've figured you'd know at least the basics after the 'research' you did."

June looked at Jack and grated, "Research?" She coughed again.

"Relax, we didn't do anything we shouldn't." Jack held his hands up. "Arcee got curious and downloaded some porn."

"That's...I mean, I wouldn't trust that kind of source for accurate information." June grimaced.

"Yeah, I may have gotten the wrong impression from the ones I watched." Arcee's optics widened and she shook her head. "The first time I saw a guy ejaculate, I thought something inside him _broke_."

June's mouth fell open and she shuddered and facepalmed. "I think my _spirit_ just broke."

Jack chuckled. _Well, at least this took her mind off Dawson._ He held in a sigh. _Great, now _I'm_ thinking about it again. Goddamn it._

Arcee turned back to Mendoza and pointed at the repair table. "So, that's for my actual body?"

"Yep. Obviously, you had far more important parts that needed to be installed, but this can be a added later, if you want."

"But wouldn't it be...um, well...I'm sixteen feet tall. Since everything on me is proportionally larger than a human's-"

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's based on the one your human-size body has." Mendoza smiled. "And you can adjust the tightness. And you'd also have a range of options similar to the software your Pretender body has, so you can adjust things like sensitivity."

"Why not just leave it on maximum?" Miko asked.

Everyone jumped slightly and looked to the left. There Miko stood a few feet away, leaning against the wall and staring at Bulkhead. She'd taken her armor off and replaced it with a pair of cargo pants and a plain black tank-top.

Mendoza chuckled. "Well, if Arcee did that, she could accidentally masturbate to completion just by walking across a room. I've found it's better to dial it way down until times when I need it for, um, its intended purpose."

Miko's eyes widened and she managed a faint smile. "_Want_!" The smile faded almost immediately, though, and she returned her eyes to Bulkhead, Optimus, and the two Vehicons.

Ratchet grumbled again. "By the goddamned All-Spark, if you people are going to continue that conversation, _please_ take it outside!"

Arcee raised her hands. "Okay, relax. They were all really bummed out, so I wanted to lighten the mood a little."

Her eyes closed suddenly and she slumped against Jack. His heart pounded and he snapped his gaze over to the repair table.

Her Mini-Me reactivated and glanced around, blinking. She sat up straight and held Jack's hand. "Take it easy, I'm okay." She narrowed her optics at Ratchet. "_Something_ interfered with my wi-fi for a few seconds."

"Well, that's the kind of things that happen when I'm distracted. Point taken, I hope?"

"Yes. Crystal clear." Arcee leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

_Prick._ Jack scowled at him, but kept his mouth shut. _Okay, he has a point. But still...prick._ He slipped his arm around Arcee's waist. It took a while, but finally she relaxed.

"Easy, old friend," Optimus said, keeping his tone quiet. "They went through a very traumatic experience and need to break the tension."

Ratchet muttered and grumbled, but continued working in relative silence.

Mendoza walked over to Miko and smiled. "By the way, I hear you made a real difference in the battle. Five Insecticons in one shot."

Miko shrugged. "Doesn't change what happened to Bulkhead."

"No, it doesn't, but at least the one who did it will never harm anyone again."

"Guess you're right." Miko shrugged again.

Starscream took a few steps closer, fixed his shifty-eyed gaze on Miko and tapped his fingertips together. "I have to say, that was a most impressive explosion. How did you do it?"

"Satchel charge. Storage room packed to the ceiling with energon. Push one button, thirty seconds later, _boom_. Five _dead_ motherfuckers."

Starscream's optics opened wider and he took a step back.

Jack smirked up at him. "Hurting Bulkhead is the quickest way to get on Miko's bad side."

"Ah, yes. Point taken." He backed off a bit more, his eyes growing even wider, and his red-glowing optics enlarging to nearly fill their sockets.

Jack and Arcee exchanged a wink and a smirk.

Miko stuck her hands into her pockets and kept her eyes on Bulkhead.

Starscream started to turn away, hesitated, and said, "Not to weigh your minds down with even more worries, but now that the Decepticons know you can deal out some serious damage, it's only a matter of time before they retaliate."

_Oh, fantastic._ Jack glanced at his mom. Her face turned pale and she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. _We should've thought of that, I guess._

"Great," June muttered. "Just what we need."

Jack put his hand on her shoulder and looked at Arcee. She stared at Starscream for a few more seconds, turned to Jack, and laced her fingers through his. Then she drew her right knee up, rested her arm on it, and shook her head.

"Well, _shit_."


	6. Chapter 6

"Wow." Jack sat at the corner table in Groom Lake's mess hall, grinning at the food piled on his tray. "That's the biggest omelette I've ever seen."

Arcee sat her human-size doppelgänger down across from him and smiled. "Guess it's about time you had an actual meal." Ratchet had finished replacing her parts, but had ordered her to stay in the repair bay for another day or two to give her autorepair systems a chance to finish whatever fine-tuning they needed to do. Not long ago, that would've annoyed her because she hated sitting on the sidelines, but now that she had a human-size body she could operate remotely, it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah. I hadn't even thought about it until now, but I haven't had more than a quick snack here or a sandwich there in the last several days." He leaned forward, inhaled deeply, and smiled. "Deluxe omelette with extra cheese, toast, biscuits and gravy, and barbecue-flavored potato chips. I'm starting to drool just from thinking about it."

"Hey, guys."

Jack glanced around and found Mendoza and Conrad heading in their direction.

"Hi."

Arcee waved at them.

"Mind if we join you?" Mendoza waved a hand at the empty seats beside each of them. "Or are you having a private breakfast?"

Jack glanced at Arcee and shrugged. She shrugged back and nodded at the seats.

"Go right ahead." She cocked her head and arched a brow plate. "Rosalina, you're eating, too?"

"Pretenders would have a hard time passing ourselves off as human if nobody ever saw us eating." Mendoza sat beside Arcee and picked up a potato chip in her sharp, metal fingers. "Since you're using one of our bodies, you can do the same thing. Wanna give it a try?" She put the chip in her mouth and began chewing.

Arcee shrugged. Jack grinned and offered her a potato chip. She held it uncertainly, raised it to her mouth, and arched a brow plate when Jack started laughing.

"Sorry, babe. You opened your mouth so wide, it was kind of comical."

She chuckled. "Well, I've never done this before." She inserted the chip, watched Rosalina chew for a moment, and tried to mimic her movements. The potato chip broke apart into ever smaller pieces. Suddenly, a completely alien sensation spread through her mouth as the chip triggered sensors she didn't even know she had.

"Oh, wow. This is...this is _amazing_!" Her optics widened. "Is that what it's like to taste something?"

"Yep." Rosalina smiled. "It's probably not the same as what humans experience, but it's as close as we could make it."

"Even if it's not the same, it's still...well, like I said, _amazing_!" Arcee grinned, continued chewing, and looked at Rosalina. "Okay. Um, how do I finish it?"

"You haven't read the owner's manual, have you?" Rosalina laughed. "There's an instruction file included in the software we installed before you linked up with this body. You'll find out how to swallow, among other things, if you run it."

"Sorry, I haven't been in a hurry to run any software I don't recognize. This body, y'know, being designed by Decepticons, and all that."

"I understand. Ratchet checked all the software, though."

"I know. Thousands of years of seeing all Decepticons as the enemy isn't exactly easy to overcome."

"Well, you've come a long way already, and I'm grateful that you've been able to accept me and the others."

"Your actions over the past few months speak for themselves. And you've helped me overcome a lot of my own prejudices." Still, rather than opening the unfamiliar file, Arcee connected to the Internet and searched for information on how humans swallow.

What she found wasn't exactly what she'd expected.

"_Oh._ Wow. That was _nasty_." She grimaced.

"What was?" Jack stared at his potato chips.

"No, the chip's fine. I just tried to find out how to swallow by searching online and-"

Jack snickered. "Oh, no. I bet I can guess what kinds of results you got from the word, 'swallow.'"

"Yeah. _Ugh_!"

Rosalina and Lucas burst out laughing.

"You might want to put a few filters on that kind of search," Lucas said.

"Absolutely." Arcee tried it again. "Okay, half the results I got this time were about birds." She sighed. "Screw it. I'm running that file."

Jack reached out to hold her hand, his smile fading into a look of concern. She patted his hand, set up a virtual drive and placed it behind a firewall, and moved the file into it. Then she unpacked it, skimmed the contents until she found the swallowing data. After scanning it for malware one last time, she copied only what she needed for this one function, installed and ran it.

She swallowed the ground-up potato chip and smiled. "Okay. So far, so good."

Jack grinned. "Want another?"

"Sure." She accepted another chip, ate it, and beamed. "Thanks. Wow, this is _wonderful_."

He grinned again, and took a few bites of his omelette. Then he scooped up a forkful and held it out to her.

She opened her mouth and he eased the food in. She chewed, swallowed, and marveled at another flood of new data.

"_Mmm!_ It's like a whole new world suddenly opened up." She cocked her head at Rosalina as her sensors finished analyzing the data. "From what little I know about the human digestive system, I'm assuming this has to come out the other end, right?"

Rosalina chuckled. "You've got the nano-factory I mentioned when you first linked up with this body. It breaks down food and liquids on a molecular level, stores it until it's needed, and reconfigures it into new substances. Like, when we have to pretend to sweat, that's how we do it."

"Interesting."

"It's the same for, well..." Rosalina pointed quickly at the area below Arcee's waist. "I'll just say that any fluid going into that will be converted into something else by the nano-factory."

Jack blushed.

"Huh," Lucas said before taking a bite of his toast, "I've been wondering how that worked."

"Speaking of which, in case you didn't run anything else in that file, there's something you might want to be aware of." Rosalina wiggled her brow plates. "For whenever you and Jack get around to doing the deed."

"What deed?" Arcee raised a brow plate.

Jack's blush turned darker, but he shook his head and laughed. "Sex, Arcee."

"Oh." Arcee aimed a goofy grin at him. "Duh. Once again, I'm as sharp as a bowling ball."

"It's part of your charm." Jack smiled and patted her hand.

She snorted. "Okay, Rosalina, what's this information I need to know?"

"Well, from what I've heard, teenage males tend to have, shall we say, hair triggers. So you'll want to be prepared for that."

Jack's blush deepened further. "Um, I'm sitting _right here_, you know."

"Just trying to help ensure that it's a satisfying experience for you both. I use this protocol myself, and I can tell you it's _awesome_." Rosalina held her hands up. "Anyway, I'm assuming this is going to be your first time?"

Jack covered his face with both hands. Arcee chuckled and reached over to tear off a small piece of his toast. Finally, Jack nodded without uncovering his face.

"Okay. So you'll probably be nervous and overly excited, so you might only last a few seconds."

"Oh, hell," Jack muttered. He finally let his hands drop, picked up his fork, and speared another piece of his omelette. Then he noticed something behind Arcee, opened his mouth, and started to raise his free hand.

"Here's what this software protocol does," Rosalina continued before Arcee could turn to see what Jack was looking at. "When he comes in you, your sensors will trigger a mind-blowing orgasm."

Jack froze in mid-wave and his face turned the color of a ripe tomato. He cleared his throat and mumbled, "Uh...hi, Mom."

Arcee and Rosalina turned to find June standing a few feet away, holding her own tray, and staring slack-jawed at Rosalina.

_Oops._ Arcee gave her a sheepish grin and waved. "Hey, June."

Rosalina gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. Lucas burst out laughing.

"Jesus Christ," June mumbled as she took the empty seat to Jack's right. "Of all the times to walk into a conversation."

#

"We're not planning anything naughty, Mom, I swear!" Jack's face wouldn't stop heating up. _Oh, wow. If my blush gets any darker, I'll end up looking like Toht at the end of _Raiders_._

"Uh-huh. It sure _sounded_ like you're not planning anything." His mom arched an eyebrow and simply stared at him.

"I'm sorry," Mendoza said, slumping forward and covering her face with her hands. "I was just telling Arcee about a function of her body she wasn't aware of. For future reference, that's all. I mean, as in something she'll need to know _someday_."

"To be fair," Conrad said with a lopsided grin, "Roz wouldn't have needed to explain anything if Arcee had bothered to read the instructions that were included in her new body's software."

"True enough." Arcee aimed a brief, rueful smile at him before turning back to June. "Just a couple minutes ago, I had to access that file to learn how to swallow."

Barely a second passed before a realization made Jack wince. _Oh, no._

"Is that so?" June turned that arched eyebrow toward Arcee.

"She's talking about food, Mom! She tried one of my potato chips!" Jack slapped a hand to his forehead. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Potato chips? A robot eating potato chips?"

Arcee seemed to remember the piece of toast between her finger and thumb. She popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Then she grinned and affected a British accent. "New body, new rules."

"Like I explained to Arcee a moment ago, being able to eat helps Pretenders maintain their covers." Mendoza grinned and took a bite of her sandwich. "Of course, we're normally disguised _as_ humans when eating. Anyway, we don't need to keep it up now that everyone on the base knows what we are, but it's something I do because I enjoy it."

The door at the opposite end of the room opened and Miko and Raf entered. They headed straight for the buffet and salad bar. Miko had a distant look as she picked up a tray and began loading it. Probably worried about Bulkhead, Jack assumed.

"I need to try a full meal sometime, now that I have an idea of what it's like." Arcee grinned.

"Let's go get a tray for you, then." Jack slid his chair back.

"No, finish your breakfast first. Maybe I'll try something for lunch." Arcee smiled. "You've waited too long for a good meal, already."

"So," June said before the conversation could be derailed any farther, "what exactly _are_ your plans for the immediate future?"

"Take it easy, Mom. I've already told you, we're waiting until I'm eighteen, if not longer. We both know we're not ready for that yet."

"Since it'll be a couple days before I'm back to one hundred percent," Arcee said, "Ratchet wants me to stay in the medical bay and let my autorepair systems finish their work. So, unless we detect the _Nemesis_ approaching, or some other emergency comes up, I have a lot of free time to fill." She smiled. "Since Jack could probably use some downtime, I was thinking we could just hang out for a day or two. Maybe take a walk along a beach somewhere, if we can find one that's completely empty."

"I'd like that." Jack smiled. "Just you, me, the sand, the ocean, and a beautiful sunset."

"Sounds lovely. It'd be kind of nice to enjoy the sights and just sit and talk for a while."

Raf and Miko walked over and sat at the table behind Arcee and Rosalina.

"Hey, guys." Jack waved before taking another bite of his omelette. "How're you doing?"

Miko shrugged. "Bulkhead still hasn't regained consciousness. Ratchet said they've done all they can, so now it's up to his autorepair systems. There was nothing we could do, so we came here for breakfast." She sighed. "We'll have to head home soon, though, before our parents start asking questions."

"My family barely notices me when I'm there." Raf picked up a biscuit and spread butter on it. "They probably wouldn't realize I've been gone all night."

"My host parents seem to be going out of their way _not_ to notice me ever since the other night." A smile tugged at Miko's lips before fading. "Y'know, when they walked into my room and caught me flickin' the bean."

Raf's eyes widened and he shook his head and stared intently at his tray as he chewed his biscuit.

Miko shrugged. "I'm more worried about Bulkhead than I am about what they think. He took a _bad_ hit."

"Did Ratchet say exactly how bad the damage is?" June pushed bits of her food around on her plate. "It looked like the beam might've severed his spine, or whatever it is Cybertronians have."

"It did." Arcee sighed. "It vaporized a segment of his equivalent of your spinal cord, and that's not something we can fabricate. The device we used on the _Nemesis_ can build new arms, legs, components like T-Cogs, but not something as complex and critical to our functions as this. It's like how humans have just now reached the point where they can 3D-print bones or certain organs, or build new legs for Jack and connect them to his nervous system in a rudimentary fashion, but you can't replace a piece of someone's spinal cord or a part of their brain."

"Yeah." Miko rubbed her hand over her face. "Ratchet said he may recover, but there's also a chance he'll be permanently damaged. Like, never be able to walk again."

"I'm sorry," June said softly.

"He'll be able to link up to a Pretender body," Arcee said. "But it won't be quite the same, will it?"

"No. If that's how things work out, I'll miss riding in him when we're cruising around. And he's been letting me take his wheel when I started learning to drive. I was hoping I could take the driving test with him." Miko sighed and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "But I gotta hope he'll be okay-back on his feet and kicking ass like he always did before." A faint, wistful smile appeared briefly. "And I've wanted to introduce him to my parents ever since we met. My real parents, back in Japan, I mean. Because they're so rigid, emotionally. Cultural thing, I guess. I dunno. I grew up in it, but never really understood it. I always felt...caged. Bottled up. Guess I'm just not wired up the way my parents are."

"I guess that's why you've always been so...outgoing." Jack smiled. "Ever since I met you, at least."

"Oh, hell yeah. As soon as I realized I could really cut loose now that I live in America, I _did_." Miko managed a brief chuckle. "I'd _so_ love to see the look on my parents' faces when Bulkhead drives up and I get out and he transforms back into his robot mode. Especially Dad. He's so tight-assed, you couldn't even thread dental floss through his fuckin' pucker."

June snickered, grabbed a napkin, turned away quickly, and blew her nose. She sighed, turned back, and muttered, "That could've been really embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than your parents catching you rubbing one off?" Miko grinned, but still she couldn't completely hide her concern for her friend.

June shrugged. "I wouldn't know. My parents actually had a lot of other issues to deal with when I was a teenager."

_Shit, I hope Mom never caught me going at it!_ Jack blushed again and finished his omelette and toast quickly, hoping no one noticed. _And if she did, she'd damned well better not mention it here!_

Arcee cocked her head. "Such as?"

June's face turned slightly darker red. "Well, I was really young when I was pregnant with Jack. I mean, _really_ young."

"How young? I mean, if I may ask?"

June opened and closed her mouth a few times, took a bite of her salad, and finally sighed. "I was...thirteen. Well, almost fourteen, but not _quite_."

"Holy crap," Mendoza muttered.

"Well," Raf said, "I guess that explains why you look so hot. _Young!_ You look so _young_!" His face turned red, he hunched over his tray, propped his head on his left hand, and began shoveling food into his mouth.

Miko burst out laughing and put an arm around his shoulders.

June arched her brow again, shrugged, and cleared her throat. "Well, uh...thanks. But anyway, yeah." She looked at Jack. "That's why I've been freaking out over the thought of you...well, you know...before you're ready."

"So." Jack raised his own eyebrow. "You regret-"

"_No!_ Not at all. I'm thankful to have you, and the life I have now." June looked around at the others. "But it wasn't easy. Jack's father was a few days from his eighteenth birthday when he found out he'd knocked me up, and he ran like hell. Probably joined the Army, or something. Mom and Dad had to do most of the work for the first few years of Jack's life so I could stay in school. And you know what Jasper's like-any small town, really. The gossip that spread around the school, and then the whole town."

Jack grimaced. "Oh, yeah. I've heard all sorts of things about other kids and their families. Just remembering the crap I always got from Vince and his buddies, all because I was always kind of a dork. But that's nothing compared to what you must've gone through."

"It was hard, alright, but worth it. The thing that freaks me out is, things like this happen to other kids and it doesn't always work out in the end. If my parents hadn't been there for me, or if I'd dropped out of school, or if I'd been an alcoholic or a meth user or whatever..." She shook her head. "I guess knowing some of the kids I grew up with was what kept me on the right path. Seeing how they turned out made me determined to give you a good life. I wish I could've been around for you more than I was, but..."

"You had to get a good education and a job so you could keep the fridge stocked and buy clothes for us, and all that. You sometimes weren't around because you were working your ass off for me. I understand, Mom." He smiled and patted her hand. "Things really did turn out okay."

"Yeah. Now we're involved in a war that started on another planet, nearly being killed more times than I can count, and seeing good people d-" She stopped, winced, and shook her head quickly. "I didn't mean-I guess I'm still a little shaken up by what happened to Case and Dawson. I shouldn't have said that."

"I understand." Arcee reached over to pat June's hand. "It kind of rattled all of us. I'd gotten used to seeing Jack, Miko, and Raf survive everything the 'Cons threw at them, and then Ashanti's team kicking ass along with the rest of us. I started thinking they'd all come back alive every time." She looked down at her and Jack's hands as they held one another. "It was only a few months ago I felt the same way about Cliffjumper, until one of the 'Cons killed him. Funny, how quickly, and how often, we forget we're not indestructible, no matter how many times we're reminded of it."

Jack glanced at his mom, remembering the way she'd reacted when Arcee brought her up to speed on the war and his involvement in it. He spoke before she could bring any of that up again.

"We'll have to keep facing it again and again until the war's over. It's too late to back out; the 'Cons knew about me and Raf and Miko since we got caught in the middle of all this, and we'd still be targets even if we walked away from it." Jack smiled and gave Arcee's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'd rather do whatever I can to fight back and protect the people I love, than just sit at home and wait for the 'Cons to kill us."

"Can't argue with that." Rosalina smiled at Lucas and reached out to hold his hands. "I tried to stay out of the war, but now I have reasons to get involved again."

Jack nodded and looked at his mom. She sighed and appeared to accept it, albeit reluctantly.

"Speaking of what happened on the _Nemesis_," Rosalina said after the silence had stretched out for nearly a full minute, "how's Ashanti holding up? It can't be easy for her to deal with."

"I haven't seen her since last night, but yeah, she was taking it pretty hard. I don't see how either death could've been avoided, but she naturally feels responsible." June sighed. "That whole thing is bad enough as it is, but a while ago I realized their families won't even be told how they really died."

"Why? Oh." Arcee closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "That's right, it's because my people and I are classified."

"Yeah. I hope General Sanchez can bring them into the loop like he did me, otherwise, the government will simply lie to them." June took a slow breath and managed to smile at Arcee. "I want to thank you for insisting I be cleared for all this, Arcee. Despite everything that's happened since then, I'm thankful I was told the truth."

"I'm glad Agent Fowler was able to arrange it. You shouldn't be forced to live with a lie when something like that happens."

"So many things would be so much easier if we were declassified, huh?" Rosalina shrugged. "But then, if we were revealed to the public, there might be widespread panic when everyone finds out that giant alien robots have invaded their planet. And then a lot of people would be pissed off because the government lied to them about us."

"Well," Raf said, still slightly red-faced but on the way to recovery, "most people probably assume the government is lying to us about almost everything, anyway."

"Maybe someday the secrecy will be dropped." Arcee smiled at Jack. "It'd certainly be refreshing to be in public with you without having to hide what I am."

Jack nodded and opened his mouth, but stopped when Arcee turned her head abruptly and appeared to look at something that wasn't in front of her.

"Optimus just came into the repair bay, back at the base." Her optics opened wider and she turned back to Jack. "He said there's something we'll both want to see."

"Oh, hell." Jack stood and picked up his tray with suddenly shaking hands. "The last time he said that, we ended up colliding with Airachnid."

"Yeah. Well, she _is_ still out there, somewhere-damaged, but maybe not badly enough." Arcee stood with a groan. "Ratchet's firing up the ground bridge, right out in the front parking lot."

"I'll meet you out front, then." Jack held up his tray. "Just got to get rid of this first."

"I'll take care of that," Rosalina said, standing and reaching for the tray.

"Thanks." Jack managed a shaky smile before walking with Arcee across the mess hall.

June shoveled in a few more bites of her breakfast and caught up with them. By the time they reached the door, Miko and Raf had joined them.

Jack held the door open for everyone. "Okay, let's see what's gone horribly wrong _now_."

#

"What've we got?" Arcee took a quick look around as she and the others walked out of the ground bridge's vortex. Starscream was still here, sitting and leaning against the wall, with the two Vehicon defectors staring at him. Even though their faces were blank, consisting only of a single, red, glowing optic strip on a smooth mask, Arcee swore should could feel their hostility toward Starscream radiating like heat waves.

Still, to his credit, he didn't appear to be up to anything.

He offered the new arrivals a nervous smile. "It seems the Autobots have forgotten me, so I've simply stayed out of their way. I have to say, I prefer this place to the missile silo that served as my prison cell." He stretched his legs out across the floor and wiggled his feet. "Much roomier."

"Yeah, we've always liked it here." She nodded a greeting at the defectors as she walked between them and Screamer. They nodded back and seemed to relax slightly. She continued on to the main console, in front of which stood Optimus and Ratchet. Bumblebee stood a few yards away, keeping his optics on Starscream.

Optimus turned to Arcee and the rest, and pointed at the main monitor. "A few minutes ago, we picked up a live news feed."

"I think you'll find it _most_ interesting," Starscream called out from his spot on the floor.

"Really?" Arcee stared up at the screen. "Okay, what is it?"

"Replaying it now." Ratchet touched a control and a video popped up on the monitor.

A chill enclosed Arcee's spark. _Airachnid._

The monstrous excuse for a sentient being walked slowly into range of a camera inside a news agency's helicopter, which had been aiming at a traffic jam on a highway overpass until it panned over to Airachnid.

"Oh, god_damn_ it." Jack glared so hard at the image, Arcee almost expected jets of flame to shoot out of his eyes. "One afternoon on a beach. Just one. Is that too much to ask?"

"How fascinating," Starscream said. "I seem to recall you telling me that you had terminated her."

_Aw, shit._ Arcee suppressed a groan and tried to think up an excuse.

Jack turned his scowl on Starscream. "Oh, yeah, like _you've_ never manipulated or lied to anyone before."

Starscream's smirk collapsed into a gape. He looked away, chuckled nervously, and muttered, "Ah, yes, fair point. Well, I have to commend you; you certainly had me convinced."

Jack shrugged and turned back to the screen. Arcee did the same, glared, and clenched her fists.

"Where is she, Optimus? Just give the word and I'll finish-"

"Wait." Optimus nodded at the video. "There is something odd about her."

"I see it, too." Jack cocked his head. "Check out the look on her face."

Arcee zoomed in on the screen and studied the image for a few seconds. Airachnid approached the highway slowly, her movements hesitant, her optics wide, her mouth parted slightly. Arcee frowned.

"She looks...confused and frightened."

"I've battled her before," Optimus said. "This is not how I remember her."

Jack glanced at Arcee and back to the monitor. "Could the damage from your last fight have caused brain damage? Like, maybe she lost her memory?"

"I doubt it." Arcee pointed at the image. "And look there-she's got no visible wounds. Her body looks brand new."

"Did any other Cybertronians have her body type?"

"None that I know of. And even if someone did, she probably would've used a different color scheme."

"I saw the damage you inflicted on her before she escaped." Optimus shook his head. "I doubt she could have repaired herself to this extent in two days."

"Also, look how she's moving." Jack pointed.

Airachnid kept glancing at her feet as she walked up to the highway, making a clear effort to step cautiously. She sank to her knees and leaned over for a closer look at the vehicles screeching to a stop or veering off as their drivers fled in a blind panic. The fear in her expression faded slowly, replaced by...curiosity?

Arcee shook her head. "What the hell is going on?"

Ratchet switched back to the live feed. The camera panned over a pile-up that had occurred moments ago on an overpass, then up to Airachnid's suddenly panicked expression. It swish-panned back to the overpass just as a minivan, having been pushed to the edge of the overpass by a collision with another vehicle, teetered over the edge.

Airachnid gasped, lunged forward, and caught the minivan-moving her hand downward and decelerating the van slowly. She placed it gently on the pavement, wheels-down, and leaned closer. Her mouth moved, but the helicopter camera was too far away to pick it up.

Arcee scanned Airachnid's lip movements and raised a brow plate. "She just asked if the people in the van are alright."

Jack turned to give her a slack-jawed stare. "Could this be some kind of act she's putting on?"

"Maybe, but it's not her style. She goes straight at her victims, plays with them for a while, and murders them."

"There is something else," Optimus said. "Something that affects us all."

"Oh, hell." Arcee's mouth fell open. "Our cover has just been blown."

"Yeah," Miko said, "there's no explaining us out of _this_ one."

Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Set the ground bridge for those coordinates, but keep it out of everyone's sight. We don't want to frighten anyone else."

Over in the repair bay, Arcee stood and walked into the main hub to join Jack and her Mini-Me. Ratchet pointed at her and shook his head.

"Ah-ah-ah! I told you to stay in-"

"I was planning to, but things have changed. I'm _not_ sitting this one out." Arcee turned to face the bridge tunnel and waited for Ratchet to activate it. "As long as I can transform without breaking any of my components?"

"Yes," he grumbled, and walked over to the bridge control panel. "You should be fine."

"Good." She shifted into her motorcycle mode.

Jack climbed on and gripped her handlebars.

"Jack, wait. You should-"

"Forget it."

"You're not wearing your armor."

"No time. If things get too rough, there's always the ground bridge."

Arcee sighed and directed her Mini-Me to get on behind him and put her arms around him.

"You're not keeping me away, either," June said.

Optimus shifted into his truck mode and opened his door. "You may ride with me, if you wish."

"Colonel McKenna's team is already en route." Ratchet glanced at Bee and nodded at Starscream and the Vehicons. Bee nodded back, beeped softly, and kept watching them.

The bridge activated and Jack patted Arcee's gas tank.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," she snarled, and launched them into the vortex.


End file.
